


We’d Remember Tonight (For the Rest of Our Lives)

by Asher Monroe (OneHundredSuns)



Category: The Vampire Diaries - L. J. Smith, Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Minor Violence, Past Bonnie Bennett/Jeremy Gilbert, Past Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore, Romance, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-21
Updated: 2015-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 23:47:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 39,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1666928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneHundredSuns/pseuds/Asher%20Monroe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bonnie was certain there were a million other people she and Damon would rather face the end with besides each other. What happened next managed to prove them both wrong. How it ends will change everything they thought they knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The 5.22 finale sparked this little gem so please read, comment and enjoy! I expect there to be only about 4 to 5 chapters. Not sure when I will update again as I’m writing 2 other things but we’ll see. More tags to be added soon.

Chapter One

Bonnie opened her eyes and found herself slumped against the side of a dirt caked mausoleum, the same one where many scary and funny moments had occurred during her time in Mystic Falls. Her head felt heavy and slightly dizzy but so far she wasn’t having any issues focusing. She knew with crystal clarity that she was more or less home, or at least the place she’d called home for seventeen years. It was hard to think of it as such considering what she’d been through recently. Still at least she was back among the living.

She could smell dirt and wild onions nestled between blades of thick summer grass. She could hear the sounds of birds singing happily and small animals rushing about the brush. Everything appeared nice and quiet but that tended to be deceiving. After all it had been a nice and quiet night when she and Damon Salvatore had officially died; stood hand in hand as the other side literally ripped apart at the seams. She could still feel the cold wind lashing across her face as the white light got so bright it threatened to burn her eyes out. Neither of them could have imagined what would happen next, not in a million years.

And yet here they were now back in Mystic Falls. Somehow.

_Now comes the hard part._

Exhaling deeply, she blinked away hazy images caused by the shining sunlight and glanced around. “Damon?”

A groan sounded from the bushes and she chuckled as Damon struggled to get to his feet, slapping at the skinny branches that stuck to his clothes. He’d recovered quicker than she had—which was to be expected, he was a vampire after all—though he stumbled when he noticed her slumped, legs stretched out.

“Hey, you okay?” Immediately he was at her side and caressing her cheek, thumb brushing across the apple. “Where does it hurt?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine. Just the effects of coming through I suppose. I’m a little weak.”

He nodded and sat down in front of her. “We’ll chill a few before heading into town. Hopefully Markos’ spell died with him and I don’t burst into flames while dying of a gunshot wound.”

She smiled wryly. “We’ve been here for about two minutes and nothing has tried to use me to cross over so I think we might _both_ be in the clear. I think I’m a witch again.”

Damon hummed. “Good. That will no doubt come in handy more than the anchor crap.” Sighing, he rubbed the back of his neck and glanced up at the sky. “Wonder what day it is here? Hell, wonder what month it is? What if everyone is gone?”

 _All good questions._ “Then I guess we could try to find them. They deserve to know we’re back—that we’re safe.”

His intense blue eyes turned soft. “That things are different…?”

She wet her lips. “Yeah. Not a conversation I am looking forward to having but it’s the right thing to do.”

He grunted. “You chicks and you’re _doing the right thing_. No one respects me for my utter love of doing whatever the hell I want.”

Chuckling, she reached up and pulled an errant leaf out of his silky black hair. “Enzo did. Perhaps you should have dated him.”

Grinning, he grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. “If he’s still around I’ll proposition him. You can watch and direct.”

Bonnie laughed and it felt good to know she still could. That traveling back to Mystic Falls hadn’t automatically dampened the progress they’d made when they were…wherever they had been. Specifics were dodgy but obviously her Grams had done something to save _her_ , something that Damon was able to hijack by them holding hands. At the time she’d joked about wanting to be with anyone else but in reality Damon had been a sort of anchor for her. Just knowing she wasn’t facing oblivion alone made it a little easier.

It made everything afterwards a little awkward, well, until it wasn’t anymore.

Her relationship with Damon had never been easy and all of the bad blood between them had only managed to become a low simmer because situations called for them to be civil. Their last day together consisted of him mildly threatening her with a fire poker, something he’d never apologized for. Not that she had expected it. Things like that became so small in the grand scheme of what they were dealing with on the other side. The _other_ other side.

Though there was a grain of worry blooming in her heart now that they were home. “Damon, we’re going to be seeing Elena soon and—”

He pressed a finger to her lips. “Stop. Don’t go all weird on me okay? You don’t bring up the E word and I won’t bring up the _J_ word. Fair enough?”

Rolling her eyes, she slapped playfully at his hand. “We’re going to have to deal with whatever we find. They are going to have questions and we have to fill in the blanks.”

“We will. But that doesn’t mean we have to have some kinda crisis beforehand.” He stood and brushed off the back of his dark jeans. “We hooked up—anyone who didn’t see that coming wasn’t paying attention. I mean all the hate sex we needed to get out of our systems alone could have had us shacked up for a few months. Doing it while stuck in some odd paradise world makes sense.” Lips stretching into a smile, he held out a hand and helped her up when she clasped it.

It made sense to her too but she doubted anyone else would think so. “I take it you wanna do all the talking, then?”

Damon tilted his head to the side. “If you want to rip the band-aid off as quickly as possible, then sure. But Bonnie you’re coming at this from the angle that they’ve been crying into their alcohol since we’ve been gone. For all we know Stefan and Elena are together again and Jeremy—well maybe Jeremy took a run at Matt.” Pause. “They had a lot in common. For starters being dumb as two boxes of very dumb rocks.”

She snickered, leaning into him for a comforting hug. “I’m nervous.”

Tucking strands of black hair behind her ear—she’d kept it cute and short while gone—he kissed her forehead. “I’m…curious. What happened wasn’t our fault so they can’t be _that_ angry. We saved everyone we cared about and went out like bosses. If we walk into town and there is not a giant statue of us I’m gonna be pissed off.”

Bonnie snorted but was amused. She threaded her fingers through his, a gesture they had repeated many times since that night and gave him a little tug. “Come on. Let’s see the state of things.”

Naturally he let himself he pulled along.

If she had to classify her relationship with Damon she would say that they were serious about each other. You didn’t go through a traumatic experience like _dying together_ and come out still wanting to slap each other. Okay so sometimes she did want to slap Damon but that was because he was _Damon_ , and going to another dimension had not dampened his sarcastic sense of humor one bit. But what was once annoying was now sort of comforting in an odd way. She knew what to expect from him and there was no more fear he would let her die to save someone he thought _more_ important.

_Except for perhaps Stefan but that’s okay because Stefan is his brother._

Stepping over small fallen limbs with rocks crunching under the shoes, they made their way through the woods towards the camp ground area where people usually parked when a party was going on. They walked in a relaxed silence, both more or less lost in their own thoughts. They didn’t know what was waiting for them at the Salvatore mansion, or if they could even make it that far. First and foremost Damon wanted to see Stefan and make sure he was alright. Next he would probably check on Enzo since Alaric was no doubt flourishing and back to playing father figure to the Gilberts.

Hopefully the whole gang was okay. The thought of anything else un-nerved her as did the idea that their sacrifice had been in vain.

As they reached the edge of the woods to step out onto the highway, Bonnie bit the inside of her cheek. “How do you feel?”

Damon slowly stepped onto the concrete and looked from side to side, touching his stomach. “Normal.” He stuck his hand into a beam of sunlight. “I guess the spell went poof when the Travelers did too.”

Relief washed over her. “That is _so_ good to know. It means the others could have a life here again.”

Smiling, he took a moment to flex his fingers and make one hundred percent sure, his daylight ring glinting in the light. “Seems like it. As long as it’s not on a delay.”

“I don’t see why it would be. It was nearly instant last time.” Bonnie crossed over the ditch and patted his shoulder as she continued past him. “I think bringing people back from the dead is the biggest thing I’ve ever done.”

“And the stupidest but we’re had this argument before.” He pointed out cheerfully. “Now that we’re back you’re not gonna revert back to that, right? Throwing yourself under the bus for us.”

“No.” She whispered. “I’ll help but not if it puts me in serious danger.”

“And it only took dying twice for you to get there.” Winking, he slipped an arm around her shoulders. “I won’t give you too much of a hard time since we _are_ some of the most careless people on the planet.”

 _He is not wrong._ There was no danger where they were before. Not like in Mystic Falls with Originals and hybrids and Travelers all vying for a piece of them. It had been peaceful—almost like Heaven but without actually being so. Now that they were back she planned to research other universes to perhaps find some answers to her many questions. Really she knew only Grams could explain what miraculous thing she had done but of course that wouldn’t be happening. Grams and Lexi were at peace and she wouldn’t change that for the world.

Oddly enough she also wouldn’t change her new circumstances with Damon.

Anyway it was a bit jarring to make it to the town square and find the _Grille_ an ashy burnt out shell surrounded by yellow tape. People were going about their days like everything was fine but she had assumed it would be rebuild by now. Though it did appear as if construction was about to start soon. She wouldn’t be too surprised to learn they were taking their time; bad things tended to happen in the _Grille_. Maybe letting it die wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

There were no familiar faces as Damon and Bonnie continued on though the Sheriff’s squad car was parked in its usual place. Sheriff Forbes had survived and that was wonderful, one of them deserved to still have a parent with an actual beating heart. At the thought of her parents a deep sadden settled in the pit of her stomach and she gave it a slow rub, praying her father was at peace. That he wasn’t judging her for the choices she had made and continued to make. He would have hated Damon…he wouldn’t have understood their connection. And she wouldn’t have blamed him because vampires leaned towards bad more than they leaned good.

Yes he’d talked to her mom when magic was getting the best of her but that had been a different story altogether. _I wonder did anyone tell her I was dead. Jeremy or Caroline might have though I kinda hope they didn’t._

“Should we live in the mansion? It’s probably pretty damn crowded with Alaric, Elena, Jeremy and Stefan. Hell I wouldn’t be surprised if Enzo is squatting there too.”

Damon’s voice brought her back to the present. “Oh, well where else would we live?”

His grin was trifling. “I could compel a real estate agent to give us a house. Or I could kick all those freeloaders out since I _am_ the oldest which means technically it’s mine.”

She laughed. “No, that would be mean. We’ll figure out the details after we get settled. I should still have a house unless someone sold it. I wonder where all my stuff is. Clothes and everything.”

His brow rose. “Huh. I haDn’t thought of that. Obviously whatever spit us back here didn’t either. Thanks a lot for that by the way!”

Shushing him, she stifled a yawn and made a face. Had it always taken this long to get to his house? “First on the agenda is a car. I don’t want to walk everywhere.”

Damon massaged the back of her neck gently. “ _That_ I can take care of pretty quickly. Even with me dead I doubt Stefan would get rid of my car. It’s vintage. And if he did I’m stealing that red one he loves so much.”

Sounds like a plan. “Long as there is a big back seat.”

“Oh I love it when you talk dirty.”

“Shut up you know what I mean!”

“Yes that you want me to take you in the back seat of a fancy car.”

“Heh yeah, no. By the way we won’t be breaking any beds anytime soon either.”

“Never say never Bonnie. We can do anything we put our minds to.”

Bonnie huffed but couldn’t stop the smile that curved the corner of her mouth. Sometime she was pretty certain Damon’s quick one liners had been the only thing keeping her sane when neither of them could make heads or tails of their new surroundings. Deep down he had been worried but he’d covered well. He’d went head first as they explored and tried to find a way out, keeping her behind him just in case something jumped out at them. Protecting her because, well she was all he had and vice versa.

She could remember watching him go to great lengths for Elena and being sort of…charmed by it. Especially in the latter days when killing random people wasn’t on his to do list. Secretly she had wished to have someone like that someday; someone strong enough to withstand whatever life threw at them. Jeremy hadn’t exactly been like that. Strong yes but there was just a stark difference between him and Damon Salvatore. Not necessarily a bad one but different. She would not have _ever_ tried to take Damon from Elena—attempting it would have been impossible anyway—but not that she had him it was hard to think of a time when she didn’t.

Damon was an all in type of guy. It made sense; he had been all in with Katherine for more years than she had been alive. She supposed she just never expected him to be _all in_ with her, seeing as how she didn’t have Katherine’s face.

 _But that makes it even better, doesn’t it? I know he wants me for_ me _and not who I remind him of. I don’t remind him of anybody._

Rounding a sharp bend in the road, they trooped around it to see the wide front yard of the mansion come into view. The bushes and flowers were in bloom—it all looked pretty and perfect as usual—like nothing bad could ever touch the place. So many houses and buildings in Mystic Falls tended to get destroyed but the Salvatore house never did. If she didn’t know any better she would think there was a protection spell around the place.

Walking up to the front door, Damon exhaled before rapping his knuckles loudly against the wood. Bonnie’s heart was racing rapidly in her chest to the point where she could see it thumping underneath her skin. She had that unpleasant rumble in her stomach, her limbs prickling like they had been asleep for a long time. She supposed she had nothing to worry about—there was no danger here, hopefully—but she couldn’t help that her emotions were spiking. In truth she felt as if she were about to shake apart at the seams.

The door opened rather slowly, and there was Stefan all sad eyes and chiseled cheekbones. Handsome Stefan whose eyes widened almost comically at the sight of them standing there, like he couldn’t really believe it. He practically gaped at them before kicking himself into gear. “What—how—how are you here right now?”

Damon smirked at hm. “Oh you know me brother, where there is a will there is a way.” And then he was pulling Stefan forward for a hug. “See? Solid and everything.”

Stefan clutched at Damon’s shoulders and searched his face for a lie before hugging him back, tight enough to make Damon wince. “I can’t believe you’re here.” A beat. “Damon I am so sorry that—”

Damon shook his head. “Hey, it’s okay. Whatever you have been beating yourself up over it’s okay. I said I would bring you back and I did.”

Stefan frowned. “Yeah and you _died_ doing it.”

Damon shrugged. “If I can’t die for my baby brother then who can I die for?”

Visibly touched by the sentiment, Stefan hugged him again. “Still I would prefer it if you didn’t do that again.” Noticing Bonnie, he smiled turned away from Damon to hug her too. “And I supposed you—” His sentence cut off abruptly. “Bonnie? What—”

“Stefan?” It was Elena. “Who’s at the door?”

She stepped into view and all of the color drained from her pretty face. Her big dark eyes stretched to the size of saucers and she walked over step by measured step as if afraid the ground would swallow her up with one wrong move. Her hand was shaking when it reached out and touched Damon’s chest, fingers dragging up to his face. Tears immediately dampened her lashes and a low sob sounded before she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms tight around his neck.

It wasn’t exactly the reaction Bonnie had expected but she went with it because grief was a funny thing, and it affected everyone differently. Some people just didn’t move on as quickly as others.

For his part Damon just smiled and whispered soothing words against the side of her head. Let her cling to him for as long as she needed because he understood the moment and what it meant. Their parting had been intense but utterly one sided; a good-bye to thin air on her side. A denial of closure really.

When she pulled back she cupped his cheeks in both hands and just _looked_ at him. Shallow breaths escaped her throat and although more tears came she started to smile. It broke across her face and honestly Bonnie defied anyone not to smile along with her. She knew how she would feel if she could be reunited with her father, how the relief and contentment would push itself out of her pores.

“Is this real?” Elena asked. “Are you really here?”

“Yup.” Damon clasped her wrists, giving them a squeeze. “Hi.”

She gave a wet laugh. “Hi to you too.” Pause. “How—Bonnie? Oh god you’re here too!” To her credit she looked just as happy to see her best friend and there was another round of hugs to give. “What happened? We heard Jeremy screaming for you and then you just disappeared.” Blinking, she jerked back as if burned. “What’s going on? What is…”

Bonnie kissed her cheek. “We uh, we have a lot to talk about. Is anyone else here?”

Stefan folded his arms over his chest. “Alaric and Jeremy are inside. Caroline and Enzo went into the woods to hunt.”

Damon snickered at the mention of his friend’s name. “Trying to convert Enzo to your squirrel diet? How is that going?”

Stefan was serene as he replied, “As well as can be expected. Maybe he’ll actually listen now that you are back.” Taking out his cell phone, he typed quickly. “I’ll tell them to come back so that we can all talk.”

Elena furrowed her brow. “Tell them to hurry. I want to know what’s going on.”

“Yeeah I’m gonna need a drink for this.” Weaving around them, Damon headed into the house and into the study where they kept the alcohol. That was where he found Alaric and Jeremy lounging, both of them jumping to their feet at the sight of him.

“What the hell?” Jeremy balked. “Damon? Is that you?”

Damon swirled his Scotch before taking a healthy gulp. “Yup. Not dead anymore. Oh and neither is Bonnie. Right, sweetheart?”

Rolling her eyes, Bonnie offered up a rather timid smile upon entering the room. “Hey guys.”

Jeremy was in front of her in a second, strong hand gripping her shoulder with enough pressure to bruise. His lashes were fluttering as if he were fending off tears. It was the sudden kiss however that made her completely speechless. A sound press of his lips to hers that he seemed reluctant to break. It was sort of the first clue that perhaps everything wasn’t as cut and dry as she and Damon had thought.

“Are you okay? How are you back? What happened? Where did you go?” Jeremy had _a lot_ of questions for her. 

Not that she blamed him.

Squeezing his hand, she moved over to the couch and sat down, her feet grateful for the reprieve. She toed off her shoes and dug her heels into the carpet, letting the cool air take a bit of the edge off. Damon brought her a glass of water before flopping down beside her, and she sipped a few times as her mind calculated the looks everyone was giving them.

“I’m glad you’re back, Damon.” Alaric leaned against the table. “Drinking’s not the same without you here to dare me to take just _one more shot_.”

“We can get back to that anytime you want.” Damon teased. “Though seeing as how the Grille is still fucked up I suppose we’ll have to import.”

“Bonnie!” Caroline rushed into the room like a firefly and made a beeline for her friend, taking the seat on the other side of her. “Oh my god! You’re really here! This is amazing and so great and… Why is everyone looking like their dog just died? Bonnie and Damon are _alive_! We should be celebrating.”

Enzo cleared his throat as he swaggered in. “Might want to hold off on the festivities, Blondie. Happy as I am that he’s back, I’ve still got a bone to pick with my former friend. Breaking your neck might settle old debts.”

Damon pretended to pout. “Violence? But we _just_ sat down.”

Stefan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why don’t we find out where they were before we start with the threats?”

 _Yes please._ “I guess we should start at the beginning. As you guys know the other side was tumbling down and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. As the anchor when there was no more other side, there would be no more me. Damon and I basically watched it rip itself a part.”

Caroline was riveted. “That must have been when you blinked out of existence. One minute you were there and the next you were just, gone. Jeremy filled us in afterwards.”

Nodding, Bonnie shivered as she remembered that night, bravely facing her own demise while secretly shattering inside. “I didn’t tell you guys because I didn’t want to worry you. I know it was stupid but…well I always knew being the anchor was temporary. It was just a—a plug in the dam of my own mortality. I’m sorry if it hurt you. At the time sparing you seemed like the better option.”

A cute frown shadowed Caroline’s features. “Do that again Bonnie Bennett and I will kick your ass! When are you going to realize that you are _just_ as important as the rest of us?”

 _I’ve missed you Caroline Forbes._ “I see that now, I honestly do. No more sacrificing myself.”

Stefan rubbed his chin. “What happened next?”

Bonnie nibbled on her bottom lip as the details floated around in her brain. “Damon and I were holding hands when everything went white and we _think_ that he sort of hijack whatever crazy thing my Grams did to save me. She had alluded to doing something but I’d forgotten by the time the shit hit the fan. Anyway one minute we are watching the world explode and the next we are waking up on the grass, and we have no idea where we are.”

Damon slouched. “To be fair we _still_ don’t know what the place was called but it was nice. Calm. And there were houses like it was a neighborhood or something. Other people too.”

“Other supernaturals.” Bonnie elaborated. “Ones I guess that hadn’t been sucked up into the darkness. Mostly witches.”

Jeremy exhaled. “So then what happened? You lived in one of the houses or something?”

“Basically.” _After a fashion…_ “We didn’t know where we were or how to get home so, seeking shelter sounded like a good idea. After we got our wits about us we did try to find a way back but there was nothing. It was like that was it. We think it was another dimension.”

Elena tugged at her shirt. “How are you back now?”

Damon removed his jacket and tossed it over the back of the sofa. “Don’t know. One minute we’re having lunch and the next we’re being pulled towards this glaring white hole that appeared in the middle of our kitchen. Long story short we woke up in the cemetery.”

Alaric hummed. “This is pretty fascinating stuff, guys. Would you mind if I did some research on it?”

“Please do.” Damon told him. “Turn over every rock and look in every cranny. Go crazy.”

Alaric flipped him off good naturedly while Stefan looked thoughtful. “So you were in some sort of holding zone, like a domestic limbo. Maybe it took some type of energy build up to get you back to the land of the living. I could see three months doing that, though it doesn’t explain other stuff.”

 _What?_ “Three months? Wait—we’ve only been gone three months?”

Stefan shoved his hands into his pockets. “Yeah. Why?”

“It was longer for us.” She cut her eyes to Damon. “A lot longer.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Caroline waved a hand. “Oh who cares how long they were gone? They’re back and that is all that matters.” Grinning, she leaned over and drew Bonnie into an excited hug, letting out a high gasp. “Oh my god! Bonnie are you pregnant?!”

Dead silence. The room fell into dead silence and Bonnie suddenly felt like a bug under a microscope with all of the prying eyes trained on her. She thought about running but knew that wouldn’t solve anything. Her friends deserved answers, especially now that they’d learned there was a huge time difference. _God things are about to get so complicated but all of a sudden their reactions make so much sense._

Fighting for the right words, she pushed off her long gray sweater to reveal the rounded swell of her belly. “I—I am.”

Caroline sputtered, “Wha—wha—how? Who is the father?”

 _Ooh boy._ “Damon.”

Damon grinned proudly. “Just more proof that I am not _only_ incredibly handsome but extremely virile as well.”

The Gilberts were frowning so heavily their faces looked disfigured. “That’s not possible,” Jeremy said. “Vampires can’t have children.”

“Maybe _here_ they can’t.” Damon mused, placing his hand almost possessively on Bonnie’s bump.

Bonnie pursed her lips. “We don’t know how it happened.”

Enzo chuckled. “I think we all know how it happened, love.”

 _Didn’t miss that while I was gone._ “I _mean_ we don’t understand the logic or biology behind it. Vampires aren’t supposed to be able to have children...but somehow Damon could there.”

“You’ve only been gone three months and you slept together?” Elena’s tone was accusing. “While we were here grieving for you? Crying our eyes out and trying to think of any way to get you back?”

Bonnie got her anger and her pain so she tried to keep her own voice steady as she explained. “It was three months for you guys but it was longer for us. It was almost three _years_ for us and in that time, things changed.” She scowled. “We _tried_ so hard to find a way home but there was nothing. After a while we figured we were just stuck there forever…so we lived our lives. Whatever they were.”

Damon dropped the bravado. “It wasn’t easy, Elena. All I wanted to do was get back to you, and keep my promise. I was an annoying little shit and I’m sure I drove Bonnie crazy with my behavior but all I could think about was you. We were there a year before I could even _talk_ about you without punching something.” His free hand curled against the arm of the couch. “This thing with Bonnie didn’t happen overnight.”

Elena expression tightened. “But it happened.”

“I don’t believe this!” Jeremy growled. “This has to be some kind of joke. You two hated each other.”

 _Not really, at least not at the end._ “We did…until we didn’t.” Ugh. “I don’t know what to say to make any of this better.”

Elena dragged her fingers through her hair. “There isn’t anything you can say. God I—when I thought about getting you guys back it was never like _this_.” She gestured at them. “It was never my boyfriend and my best friend having started this new life together where I don’t matter. And I—I know that sounds selfish but it hasn’t been three years for me. It’s been three months; three of the hardest months of my entire life.”

Jeremy clenched his jaw almost painfully. “Mine too. Here we are worried that you guys just don’t exist anymore or that you’re being tortured, when you’re shacking up.”

Damon’s eyes narrowed. “Did you miss the part where I said this hasn’t been all fun and games? Do you think Bonnie and I didn’t miss you guys? Hell, all of you. Even Enzo.” The man in question snorted and Damon continued. “Leaving the people in this room _broke_ us. I didn’t wanna leave you, Elena. I wanted to stay and fight with you, and laugh with you and give as good as I got. I honestly thought I would survive that night.”

Fidgeting and needing to move, Elena paced a little in front of the fireplace. “Are you two…in love?”

“Yes.” Damon answered without hesitation. “None of this was planned but I’m not going to lie. There would be no point. Bonnie was the only thing that kept me sane, and one thing lead to another one night.”

Bonnie wanted to take his hand but she reframed, still wanting to somehow protect those she cared about from pain. “If we had known time moved differently here—well I want to say we would have addressed the situation differently. But I’m happy and maybe it sounds bad but I don’t want to give this up.” Lightly she touched her stomach. “I’ve lost everything. My dad is dead and my mom is a vampire, and my Grams is finally at peace. This baby is a new start for me. For…us.”

Caroline _being_ Caroline, she sniffled but couldn’t hide her glee. “Well I for one am happy for you. Damon is—okay most of the time I think he sucks but if _you’re_ with him then he must have did something to gain your trust. I mean you don’t just have a baby with anyone.”

Damon flashed her a fake smile. “For the record we didn’t plan on having a kid. We figured there was no need for protection where we were.”

“I need some air.” Jeremy stalked out of the room; the front door slammed moments later.

Alaric sighed and followed him. “I’ll go talk to him.”

Bonnie realized she shouldn’t feel guilty but she couldn’t help it. Never had she expected to come back to find Jeremy or Elena still pining for them. Still holding out hope that their loved ones would return and everything would go back to normal. She could only imagine how she would feel if she were in either of their shoes. Probably completely decimated and more than a little bit angry.

There was a chance this could destroy her relationship with both Gilberts forever. That thought made her heart hurt but she ultimately felt there was nothing to be done about it. Either they would all come to some sort of agreement where they could coexist, or things were about to get very dramatic. It would probably be the latter because things were never easy for anyone involved.

“So…” Caroline wiggled her fingers. “Can I touch your stomach? Are you having a boy or a girl? How far long are you?”

At the sound of Caroline’s enthusiasm Elena’s face went blank and she left the room. Stefan wordlessly followed her, probably to make sure she was alright. She wasn’t—they all realized it.

But life went on. “You can touch and thank you for asking first. We uh, we actually don’t know what we are having yet. There weren’t exactly doctors over there. It was all really strange. I do think I’m around six months though.”

Plastering her hands to Bonnie’s tummy, Caroline’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Ah that means it’ll be here soon and there is _so_ much to do! You’ve got to let me throw you a baby shower! We can do neutral colors since you’re not sure of the sex, or you could go to the doctor here, find out and we could bake the color into cupcakes!”

“I don’t usually think so but you’re alright this time around Barbie vamp.” Damon said sincerely. 

“The thought of you as a father is laughable. And you can be rest assured that I will be here to laugh at every moment.” Enzo meandered over to fix himself a drink.

“Long as you’re not planning anything.” Damon warned. “I said I would find a way to bring you back and I did. We’re even.”

Enzo dropped a piece of ice into his glass. “I wouldn’t go after your child, mate. I’m not _that_ far gone. Not yet anyway.”

Bonnie rubbed her eyes, her energy finally starting to wane. “I think I’m gonna go lay down. That is if Damon still has a room?”

Caroline—who was now gently poking, presumably to make the baby move—looked up. “He does. Elena’s been sleeping in there since he died. Sounds like things are about to get pretty crowded.”

Bonnie hit her in the shoulder and then slowly pushed herself off the sofa, with a little help from Damon’s hand on her lower back. “You suck.”

“I’m just teasing you.” Caroline hopped up and linked their arms together as they walked. “You know I get where you are both coming from. It’s sort of like when Tyler left and came back, and had Hayley in tow. They weren’t together but I was still jealous. Elena knows you didn’t do this out of spite or anything like that. She’ll be okay.”

 _I hope so._ “Eventually, yes. Until that time she has to see Damon and I be happy together…with a baby on the way. It’s going to slow the healing process a lot.” They reached Damon’s room and Bonnie sat on the side of the bed. “And Jeremy’s too. It’s like we were brought back just to screw things up.”

“No that’s crazy! You’re here because this is your home and you have people who care about you here.”

“And those same people are seriously hurting right now.”

“But you didn’t do it on purpose. Bonnie you’re going to be a mom. I know you’re excited about it, and you should be. You didn’t do anything wrong by hooking up with Damon. Besides the fact that it’s _Damon_. Least you get the sane version, unlike the one I had.”

“Heh I missed you, Care. All things considered it’s good to be back.”

Caroline giggled. “It’s gonna be awesome. And I’ll talk to Elena for you…see where she is on the situation.”

Bonnie already knew however where she was, where Jeremy was. The question though was where would they all end up?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Damon Salvatore considered himself a practical sort of man who did what needed to be done when the time arose. He wasn't against killing someone if it saved the people he cared about. He wasn't against letting someone die if it helped the people he cared about. And apparently he wasn't against dying so that those he cared about could live. Of course coming back had been the  _plan_  but he knew better than anyone that sometimes plans just didn't work out. Maybe if he hadn't stopped to help Liz he would have made it back in time but, well, it was  _Liz_. At least one person in their screwed up town deserved to have a parent still alive.

Anyway dying a second time hadn't been that bad. For starters there was no pain and no following urge to eat everyone in sight. Just a blinding white light and then silence for a while. He still didn't know how to explain the place he and Bonnie had called home for nearly three years, except to say that it was peaceful. A sleepy neighborhood with an innate sense that there would never be any danger or real cause for worry. Thinking about it now—details were getting fuzzy, he had no idea why—he couldn't remember if blood had even been an issue. Probably? He had to eat after all.

The truth? He was happy to be back in Mystic Falls because it was his home but he could do without all of the obvious drama on the horizon. And okay maybe it was a dick thing to think but what was he supposed to do? He couldn't go back in time and  _not die_ , or turn it from three years to three months so that they would sync up with everyone else. Before he would have wished he could but now? Well he was happy with how his life was turning out.

So sue him.

At least his house hadn't changed that much unless you counted all of the squatters living there now. Enzo, Alaric, Elena and sometimes Jeremy when he wasn't rooming with Matt probably caused for some interesting times. He'd been back one night and yet the noise had taken a little getting used to. It hadn't been overly loud but being a vampire with super hearing meant he couldn't just tune everything out. Such as the emo drenched conversation Elena and Stefan were involved in into the wee hours of the night. He was back from the freaking dead and  _not_  a zombie—you'd think people would be planning a damn party.

Caroline's baby shower idea didn't count.

Speaking of babies…so yeah he was going to be a dad now. Before becoming a vampire he'd never really thought about kids. Figured there was time for that later in life since back then men could sow their oats for as long as they wanted and still end up with a wife half their age. Naturally as the oldest he was  _expected_  to provide heirs—boys—to carry on the family name but it wasn't a secret his father would have been happier if Stefan had taken that mantle upon himself.

And then he had met Katherine and had not given a damn about sons or daughters ever again.

It was funny how once you had something you sort of realized you'd been missing it all along. Not that he spent much time thinking about kids, but now that there was one he was happy about it. Which was kinda weird if he was being totally honest. One hundred plus years being alive with most of that time spent having fun and now suddenly he was okay with settling down? Had he finally grown up?

But then well in the end Katherine had loved her daughter; had sacrificed her own life just for a few more minutes with her. If someone like that bitch could still have that type of love in her heart, perhaps he could too.

Sitting at the kitchen table with the paper open in front of him, he scanned the articles while sipping a hot cup of coffee. He had expected to come back to everything being upside down, but instead there had hardly been a dent. Most of the townspeople only knew about the Grille exploding because of a gas leak, and that several tourists had died in the blast. Oh and that some odd type of poisoning had caused people to collapse and die in the town square. They had no idea about Markos or anything else. So now they were back to doing their day jobs or whatever.

As far as he could tell the Travelers that survived left soon after Markos was killed and all he could say was good riddance. Waa waa I don't have a home…crybabies.

Footsteps sounded and he looked up to watch Alaric stroll into the room still in his pajamas, hair pointing in all different directions. It was strange seeing him again for so many different reasons. Stranger still remembering he was now a vampire and did vampire things. Seemed like a lifetime ago that Alaric was an angry hunter looking for revenge.

"Good morning, sunshine." Damon said smiling. "Coffee's over there if you want some."

Alaric nodded and headed straight for it. "Sleep well? Thought you would have still been in bed with dimension lag."

Damon hummed. "Actually I feel good. There is a lot to do anyway so no need to sleep all day. I want to get all the awkward conversations over as soon as possible."

Alaric chuckled, plucking a spoon out of a drawer so he could mix sugar into his coffee. "That doesn't sound like the I _Damon_ /I I remember. Of course I've been watching your ass ever since I died so I understand how you have grown. A little. It's nothing to be proud of."

Damon laughed. "Is this your perverted way of telling me you watched Elena and I have sex?"

Alaric threw a paper towel at his head. "Asshole. I just meant—even when I wasn't there, I was." Shrugging, he sat down across from his friend. "So, how ya doing?"

Damon leaned back in his chair. "Generally or do you have a specific topic in mind?"

Alaric watched him with an amused little smile. "Hit me with all of it. We'll pretend the coffee is a good bottle of bourbon."

Grinning, Damon folded up the paper. "Apparently being back means shit has hit the fan. And I get it—I do. It was only a few months here but c'mon man, what am I supposed to do now? Pretend the last three years didn't happen for me? Or pretend I'm not in love with Bonnie? Everything is just screwed up and I got a feeling it's gonna become more so as the day progresses. So  _yay_  for that."

His friend snickered. "Elena and Jeremy just need time to come to terms with how things have changed. Losing both of you at once was hard. We looked into whatever we could to maybe try to get you back; even did a séance that didn't work. Things will blow over eventually."

_That's not comforting_. "Yeah well patience has never been my strong suit. You know when we first ended up wherever we were, I was angry but there was also this weird type of acceptance that I felt. I was dead and that was it. Being able to have this semblance of a life there was fucked up but it was also…well it made things not as boring."

Alaric was genuinely interested when he said, "Tell me about it."

_Standing at the window and looking out Damon wanted to pick up the cute little mailbox and toss it into the middle of the street. Which would be pointless because tomorrow it would be back good as new and everyone would pretend he hadn't had some kinda breakdown earlier. Because it was easier to wave hello and do normal things than admit they were all living in a boxed in Pleasantville type situation. Fuck he just wanted to scream!_

_But his throat was already raw enough._

_It was cloudy today and he sighed deeply, dragging his fingers through his dark hair. It was hard to keep track of time but he figured it had been almost three weeks since dying in Mystic Falls. He couldn't help but wonder how Elena was and how she was handling everything. Was Stefan helping her or was he just as fucked up as she was? Was Enzo behaving himself? Heh probably not but maybe Alaric was helping to keep him in check. Had they started rebuilding the Grill and was Liz really okay? Shit. All he had were questions and no real answers. It was frustrating as hell._

_A door opened and closed upstairs signaling that Bonnie was awake but he didn't move away from the window. He listened as she made her way down and into the kitchen, not saying anything as she opened the fridge for orange juice and plucked a glass down from the cabinet. He could see her reflection in the glass; she was moving as if on auto pilot and it made him frown. Usually she was the one pushing him to not give up and to keep hope alive or whatever. But today she looked_ /i sad i _and it made him twitch. He had problems of his own; he didn't have time to think about hers._

_And yet…Rolling his eyes, he slowly turned to look at her. "What's wrong? Chipper train run out of gas?"_

_She huffed and put bread into the toaster. "I'm not gonna fight with you, Damon. Not right now."_

_Of course that just made him want to fight more. "Oh I'm sorry do you have more_  important  _things to do? Like_  not  _get us the hell out of here? Or maybe there's a sale that you're dying to crash."_

_She sighed. "Whatever."_

_Damon glared at her. "You're probably enjoying this, aren't you? Being stuck here surrounded by other witches while I'm forced to tag along. I bet you think this is really funny."_

_Bonnie shook her head. "Actually I don't. But it is what it is."_

_Damon scowled. "Bullshit! You're supposed to be all smart and self sacrificing so why aren't you_ fixing _his? Why aren't you even_  trying  _to get us home? You might be content to play this fucked up version of house but I'm not." Pause. "It's too quiet here. And you know our friends could be in_  real  _danger. Jeremy could be in real danger. You remember him don't cha Bon? Rumor is you let him pop your cherry even_  after  _he cheated on you with a ghost. Hey maybe Anna found a way back and she and little Gilbert are just having a grand old time_."

_He knew full well that he was being the biggest fucking dick but he couldn't stop himself. He needed to hit out at someone and Bonnie was the only one around. The only one that paid him any real attention because the others didn't give a shit about his issues. They were enjoying their odd slice of Mayberry paradise and didn't have time for his emo fits._

_When Bonnie didn't bite back with a sarcastic reply he folded his arms over his gray t-shirt. He wanted to push more. He wanted to push harder. He wanted to rip and tear until there was nothing left because there was nothing else he could do. He was utterly powerless and he hated every goddamn part of it._

_"You're useless." He muttered, more to himself._

_Very slowly she put down the plate she had been reaching for and turned to face him, dark eyes brimming with unshed tears. "Today is my dad's birthday. At least there is what the calendar says so… I'd uh—I'd planned to take him out to dinner and I had bought him this hideous tie as a joke to so that when I gave him the leather date book I'd gotten him, he would laugh." She smiled but it was completely hollow, the action causing the tears to spill over and run down her cheeks. "I hadn't thought about it because so much shit happened in such a short amount of time but I looked at the calendar and remembered. I remembered he died and no one gave a fuck. I remembered he died thinking_  I  _didn't give a fuck. And I—he's not here. I can't apologize or make amends…"_

_Damon dug his nails into his bicep to keep from reacting._

_She wiped at her face. "And you're right, I am useless. I couldn't save him and I didn't save us and I couldn't stop the Other Side from disappearing. So if you want me to feel bad you really don't have to say anything at all because I already do." Nodding, she exhaled and went back to her breakfast with hands that trembled._

_Cursing himself, he crossed the kitchen over to where she stood and hesitantly put his hands on her shoulders. She tensed and went still, probably expecting him to attempt to try to snap her neck or something. And he wouldn't lie; he'd thought about doing it once or twice just to see what happened. But that wasn't the case right now. Right now he made her swerve around so that he could draw her into a big hug, because sometimes Damon Salvatore actually gave a fuck._

_"Hey, you're okay. You're okay." He whispered in her ear as she shook with muffled sobs. "I'm a dick and you know that, I will say horribly dickish things from time to time but I don't really think you're useless. If not for you the darkness would have chewed my attractive ass up and I probably wouldn't exist anymore_.  _And I'm sure your dad knew you cared. I think all that stuff becomes knowledge when you pass away."_

_Her tiny fingers curled into the material of his shirt. "No one even_  blinked  _when Silas killed him. I know they—they were mind controlled but why is it always my family that suffers? My mom's a vampire, my Grams died helping me and now my dad is dead too. I should be in hell."_

_His brows narrowed and he pulled back so that he could see her face. Her eyes were round and green, and he'd never really noticed how lovely they were before. "What? No. Bonnie, c'mon haven't you noticed that you save all of our asses on like a daily basis? You saw how quickly things went to shit when you were dead. And once you were the anchor who did we come running to again whenever we had a problem?" He wet his lips. "Fucked up shit has happened to you and…I'm sorry. About your mom—about all of it. At least now you don't have to worry about it anymore."_

_His words mollified her a little but not enough to fix anything. But her eyes got a bit drier so he counted that as a score for the moment. "Thank you," she said softly. "You're not such an asshole after all."_

_Damon grinned. "No I am. But I do think dating Elena has made me a lot softer than I used to be. I only get the urge to kill once every second Saturday."_

_Bonnie chuckled through her sniffling. "Does that mean you've got the urge to kill here?"_

Oddly enough he didn't have it, not in the way she meant anyway.  _"No but if setting something on fire caused some sort of scene I would be all for it." Sighing deeply, he tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear. "How about I try not to be a dick to you anymore if I can help it? And you remain the optimistic one cause obviously you do a_  way  _better job than I do. My solution is usually booze, death or fucking. We can do two out of three."_

_Laughing, Bonnie gently shoved him away and dried her cheeks before going back to her food. "In your dreams, Damon."_

As the memory faded and Damon caught the expression on Alaric's face, he smirked. "Joke was on her."

Alaric snorted with humor and got himself a second dose of coffee. "Was that the turning point in your relationship?"

Damon smoothed a hand over his face. "Kinda. We didn't jump into bed together but I tried to be less of an asshole to her. Holding her hand was the only thing that kept me from not disappearing entirely and until that moment I hadn't realized how much I owed her. Or how screwed up she was yet pretending otherwise." Biting the inside of his cheek, he yawned. "I was still messed up over Elena but I don't know. Shit just got a little easier between us…if nothing else."

_Easier than it is here_.

Leaning against the sink, Alaric grumbled. "It'll do the same thing here but it'll take time. I don't think you should feel bad over the new life you're making for yourself. Elena would say the same thing if she wasn't so hurt. You know deep down she just wants you to be happy."

"Didn't seem that way." Damon admitted. "I can  _feel_  her judging me from all the way upstairs. Also should I be worried that Jeremy is gonna try to stake me in my sleep for stealing his girl?"

"Maybe." Alaric teased. "The hunter thing has to be pushing him more than usual considering the circumstances. However I don't think he'll act since it would leave your kid without a father. Wow. You are going to be a father. How does that sit with you?"

"Sounds like fun." Damon wiggled his brows. "I think I'm old enough to capture the gravity of the situation. Besides Stefan and I don't have any real family left so this kid will be something for all of us."

"I wanted kids once upon a time. I thought Isobel and I would have them but, well, you know how that turned out. Now that I can't have them I find myself missing the opportunity more than I thought I would."

"I can relate. I never looked at a squealing brat and thought  _man, why can't I have a bunch of those_? But now that I am? Okay bring it on."

Alaric's eyes got shifty for a moment as he glanced around. "I wanna go ahead and throw my hat in the ring for godfather. I am a responsible adult."

"Well that's just rude." Enzo said as he strolled into the kitchen without a shirt on. "I am  _also_  a responsible adult and I've been Damon's boyfriend longer. I should be godfather."

Damon tilted his head to the side. "Now now you two don't have to fight over me. I will gladly accept bribes and gifts before I make my decision."

While it appeared that Alaric and Enzo were gearing up for a verbal sparring match, it was suddenly deathly silent as Elena rounded the corner and entered the room. In the past Damon would have pulled her into his lap or made some cheeky comment about breaking another bed, but that wasn't who they were anymore. At least it wasn't who he was with  _her_  anymore and by the barely contained look on rage on her face, he figured even joking about it wouldn't be appreciated it. And like the traitors they were, both his so called friends inched their way towards the door until they were gone.

How were they going to be godfather when they were scared of one little girl vampire?

But he supposed now was a good a time as any to start clearing the air. "Morning."

Her voice was subdued as she replied, "Good morning."

_I could always leave. Let her have the house and live in a shed_. "So, seems like we have a lot to talk about."

She gathered up her long hair and secured it onto a ponytail with the rubber band on her wrist. "I wouldn't even know where to begin. I spent all last night thinking this was either some cruel joke or a dream."

He tried not to frown and failed. "Why would I joke about any of this? Especially having a baby."

Her tiny shoulders hunched. "I don't know. Damon, you have to explain to me how this happened. People don't just wake up one day in love with someone else. If it were that easy I wouldn't still be in love with you."

Damon got up with the need to move. "I suppose the basics are Bonnie and I spent a lot of time together and it changed how we felt about one another. You know how that is—how it can happen out of nowhere."

Elena hugged her waist. "I—I don't  _want_  to be angry but I can't help myself. Three months isn't long enough to get over someone. Three months isn't long enough to get over  _you_."

He nodded. "I know. It took me longer than three months too. If anything we should be pissed off at time moving differently. It's a fucking cop out if you ask me."

She didn't seem to find him that funny anymore. "Time can only be blamed so much for this though. Some people go years without getting over someone they have lost. It only works if—if you  _want_  to move on. A part of you must have wanted to."

He considered her words carefully. There was truth to them but it wasn't that cut and dry by any means. Grief was something you couldn't escape or speed up no matter how much you tried. And he had grieved for everything he was missing in Mystic Falls until his insides felt like they were on fire. After a while things started to get a little better, and then a little better still. The pain of what he didn't have slowly began to be replaced by the simple joy of what he  _did_  have and that was before he and Bonnie even kissed. The once all consuming quiet became peaceful. He realized that he was  _done_ ; no more fighting or risking his life or always being in danger. He could  _relax_  without any sort of threat looming on the horizon.

So he had.

Damon gazed at her. "No one wants to hurt forever, Elena. Moving on happened gradually and it's not something I had control over. It's like trying to stay angry when you're not really angry anymore. It's exhausting."

Elena licked her lips. "It's just weird because you and Bonnie weren't friends. You came together to help me but you weren't  _friends_. Picturing how you went from that to this—I can't connect the dots."

He smiled. "Hey you hated me once upon upon time and yet we got together. I killed your brother, I killed her mom and both are okay now. More or less." Pause. "Besides does the how really matter? Would it make you feel better to hear all the gory, spicy details?"

Exhaling, she swallowed thickly. "I guess not. It's it—it's not like us right? What we had?"

Squinting at her, he shook his head. "No. What we had was passionate and chaotic. We knew we were bad for each other but we didn't give a shit because things were just too  _intense_. We were addicted to each other and the drama." He placed his coffee mug in the sink. "Bonnie and I came to respect each other before anything else. There was all this bullshit between us but there was  _other_  stuff that wasn't. She didn't look like Katherine, she hadn't dated Stefan and she'd never been sired to me. Those aren't necessarily strikes against you they were just checks in her favor. So when stuff happened it was…pure."

Elena's pretty face flinched like he'd slapped her before falling like she was about to cry. "And what we had wasn't?"

_Oh good grief_. "It was a different  _kind_  of pure. Trust me you don't want to hear this, Elena. You don't want to hear the story of how I fell head over heels in love with your best friend. Maybe one day but not right now."

Her lower lip thankfully stopped trembling. "Fine. Let's talk about the baby. What do you know about raising kids? For that matter what does Bonnie know? How are you two going to do this? Do you plan to get married or what?"

Marriage had honestly never come up. As a forward thinking vampire he figured they didn't need some piece of paper to tell them what they already knew; that they were committed to each other. Besides legalities aside he didn't trust Caroline not to completely take over the wedding planning and turn everything into an ordeal. "Aren't kids like dogs that can talk? I heard that once. In any case we'll figure it out as we go along."

"Somehow I can't see you driving a minivan and attending PTA meetings." She responded with a sarcastic edge.

"Oh I don't know." He winked at her. "I went to them with you about Jeremy. Think how productive I'll be when I actually  _like_  who the meeting is about."

"What am I supposed to do now?" She inquired quietly. "I don't think I can just  _watch_  you and Bonnie have this amazing life together. She's getting everything I want. You…a family…"

Damon couldn't help but feel bad for Elena. Once upon a time he'd loved her so much that not being physically near her made him feel like his bones were being liquefied. All he had wanted to do was touch her and make her happy however he could. In a way it was sort of like with Katherine—he'd been in love with her for longer than he could remember. Even when he wasn't with Elena he'd wanted her, and after finally getting her he thought he knew what Heaven was like.

The universe telling them they were doomed to fail but a small snag.

With Bonnie it was just vastly different. It was like waking up one day and suddenly  _seeing_  that person and all the extraordinary things you'd never noticed about them. And then wondering what the hell had been wrong with you to make you miss all of it?

"You can still have all of those things, Elena. Just with someone else." He told her, not unkindly. "What would you have done if I had never come back? Grieved and yeah it would have been hard but then it would have started to get a little better."

She didn't disagree with him. "Yeah but it's different now. You're not  _dead_. You're alive and well and I have to see you every day. We live in the same house for god's sake."

The last thing he wanted to do was leave his home but if it made things easier he'd try to find somewhere else to live. "Then Bonnie and I can stay at her place for a while. She'll probably wanna swing by and make sure it's still in one piece anyway."

Elena winced. "I don't want to kick you out of your own home."

_Kinda seems like you do but whatever_. "You're not kicking me out. You need space and I'm  _just_  in a good enough mood to give it to you."

She rubbed at her cheek. "No that would be wrong. You don't have to leave. I—I'll deal the best way I can."

Needless to say that probably wouldn't turn out well. "No you know I think it would be a good idea to have some distance for a few. Get everyone used to the idea of Bonnie and I being back, and how things are changing now."

It was clear that while Elena didn't want him to go—for whatever reasons that he wasn't going to get into—she also did want him to leave. But it was a familiar thing he'd dealt with during their relationship; that odd push and pull that always kept them in each others' orbit. She was still there unfortunately and as long as she remained civil he would try to be a nice guy about it. None of this was her fault just like it wasn't his or Bonnie's. He just hoped she didn't forget that.

* * *

 

Standing in front of the floor length mirror in Damon's bedroom—because he had always been vain enough to want to see  _all_  of himself at the same time—Bonnie smiled at the sight of her round tummy as it stretched out her simple gray t-shirt. She had never really thought about what it would be like to be pregnant but when she was little she'd entertained the idea of having children. She and Elena would play house with their dolls though Matt would usually be Elena's husband…until he got tired and ran off to play fort instead. Being pregnant was interesting.

Watching her petite body change and grow just made the situation completely  _real_  in ways it hadn't when she'd first found out. What should have been totally impossible was happening without any rhyme or reason. She was happy it hadn't left when they crossed over but she couldn't help but wonder why it had not. And was this  _also_  what her Grams had in mind when she'd saved her. Probably not considering Damon was never a part of the plan.

She wouldn't lie, she was a bit terrified of having a kid and being a mom but she was also excited. She was more or less an adult now and it wasn't like she was financially not able to provide for it. She had the insurance money from her father's death and Damon was pretty well off. Not to mention whatever they needed he could compel someone to give them.

As for the emotional aspect well, she just knew she wanted to be much better than her mother. Nothing would be more important to her than her baby. Not someone else and definitely not someone else's baby. Only death would be able to drag her away and if it came to choosing between that and being a vampire, she would choose the latter.

Of course she would have to tell her mother  _eventually_  but she was going to wait a while. Maybe until it was born and until she was sure her mother wouldn't eat it.

Plastering her hands to her stomach, she turned to the side and exhaled slowly. She wasn't huge—about the size of a basketball—but compared to the flatness she was used to it was a big adjustment. Not to mention her boobs were twice their normal size, though that she was actually enjoying. As was Damon but for a completely different reason.

"Hey there." She smiled. "So welcome to Mystic Falls. This is where I grew up and where your dad grew up, and your grandparents. Hopefully you'll like it here and not have to deal with any of the crap we did. As soon as I can I'm gonna make a doctor's appointment so that I can find out if you are a girl or a boy. Though I think you're a girl. The world needs more Bennett witches."

"Whoa. Caroline wasn't exaggerating." Matt lingered in the doorway, big blue eyes wide with amusement. "Or lying. You're pregnant."

Bonnie chuckled and waved him over, giving him a big hug. "Hey you. I was wondering where you were yesterday."

He grinned. "Well unlike everyone else I don't have a rich vampire boyfriend or friend to pay my way, so I was working. Luckily the Grille wasn't the only place in town that would hire me. Granted I'm doing clerical work for Caroline's mom but it's a paycheck." He looked her over. "Wow. I can't believe this is actually real. At least you waited until high school was over though. Remember Laura McCall?"

She did, quite vividly. She had been the first person in their year to get pregnant by some guy on the football team. There had been a running joke that it was Tyler but it was never confirmed. "I do and yeah I'm proud this is a college baby."

Matt laughed. "You look great though. I'm really glad you're back." He hugged her again. "Though I'm guessing things are weird here?"

She nodded. "That is an understatement. Elena and Jeremy are taking things pretty hard which makes total sense. It's just…not the warm welcome Damon and I expected. Well not from them anyway. Everyone else has been pretty cool about it." She jerked as she was socked by a tiny kick and grabbed Matt's hand so that he could feel. "Congratulations. You're the first person here to feel the baby move. Caroline might kill you though—she spent hours last night trying to make it move and it wouldn't."

Matt snickered. "Heh sounds like Damon's kid." His already huge smile grew as another tap connected with his palm. "This is amazing, Bonnie. So you're happy, right?"

"I am." She replied honestly. "Perhaps not one hundred percent now that I know Jeremy and Elena are in pain, but for the most part I'm very happy."

"Cool." He responded without a hint of sarcasm. "Tyler will probably come and visit you soon. Ya know it's nice not being the human around anymore."

_I can imagine_. "I'll bet."

"And the Quarterback has his hands all over my girl." Damon mused as he strolled into the room. "We've been back one day."

Matt arched a brow. "I was going to congratulate you but now I don't think I will. Besides she was letting me feel the baby move."

Suddenly Damon was  _there_  in front of them, slapping Matt's hand to the side so that he could feel. He'd felt the baby move many times and yet the novelty of it had not worn off apparently. It was sort of endearing, especially the part where he used his vampire speed.

"Don't mind him." Bonnie told Matt. "He's still crazy."

"I can see that." Matt joked. "I'll gonna go see Jeremy but we'll talk more later." Giving her a soft smile, he wandered out into the hall and presumably to Jeremy's room.

Damon poked her in the side. "Wanna go check out your old house? Maybe crash there for a few days so the Gilberts stop looking like they've been stabbed in the chest with a rusty knife."

She blinked. "Um, okay. Did something happen?"

He sighed. "Elena and I had a little chat earlier. Nothing too bad but staying elsewhere for a while could be good for all parties involved. Unless you don't want to?"

She didn't care one way or the other. "No it's fine. If it helps them I'm all for it. And yeah I do want to check it out and make sure everything is okay."

He kissed her temple, his hand rubbing in a soothing circle as another kick flared. "Hey, you don't get a vote."

Bonnie's laughter was probably loud enough to be heard downstairs. "I think those are I'm hungry kicks. C'mon let's go and while we're out we can get a pizza."

Damon pinched her lightly. "You mean  _you_  can get a pizza. I won't even get a  _slice_  and we both know it."

Pretending to glare at him, she pulled away and slapped his chest. "Keep being mean to me Damon. Pretty soon you're going to be out numbered."

He put his hands on her shoulders, his expression thoughtful. "Funny enough I look forward to it…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_Bonnie could feel the desire to return to the land of the living burning deep inside of her but here they had been in this new place for three months now, and honestly it wasn't the worst place in the world. Or out of the world as the case may be. Things were so easy when you weren't fighting for your life or dealing with the sadness that came from knowing your friends were in trouble yet being unable to help them. She missed her family and she missed Caroline and Elena but she just had this overwhelming feeling that they were okay. It wasn't something she could explain but she hoped it was for real._

_There wasn't much to do in_ /i Pleasantville i _as Damon had dubbed it so they spent most of their time exploring. The neighborhood was vast and it seemed whenever one of them needed something, there was suddenly a place for it. Bonnie secretly thought it was Heaven for supernaturals but she wouldn't tell Damon that. He would just roll his eyes and say something trifling about it. He wanted to hate it but she could see he didn't, not as much as he had in the very beginning._

_Walking down the smooth sidewalk with him at her side, she watched as people went about their day. Some were gardening and others were simply sitting on their porches enjoying the temperate weather. They weren't people she knew or faces she recognized. In fact none of the Travelers that had passed through her were in this world. She couldn't help but wonder where they had ended up. They weren't bad people but she couldn't say she felt much pity for them either way._

_Damon was in black—as usual—in his simple display of still being in mourning. He had other clothes to choose from but even now he was sticking with his bad boy persona. She wasn't sure where they were at in terms of their rocky relationship but she did know he was being surprisingly nicer to her since her meltdown in the kitchen. It was funny because Elena often spoke about this different side of him, but she and Caroline rarely saw it. Even when he was being_  nice _there was a hint of dick in there somewhere._

_She couldn't believe she was stuck with him of all people for the rest of eternity. Yet it was better than being all alone._

_"It could be aliens." Damon said out of nowhere. "I mean the bright white light and everything. It would make sense if we were abducted by aliens."_

_"Aliens that abduct the dead?" She mused. "That's kinda weird."_

_He shrugged. "So's the probing."_

_Bonnie laughed as her nose scrunched up. "Ew, that's disgusting."_

_He smirked. "Oh like you don't enjoy a little_  probing  _every now and then. How long has it been since you were probed?"_

 _Shaking her head, she willed her cheeks not to color but they did. "I am_  not  _talking about this with you."_

_Damon pouted. "Aw c'mon we're like best buds now. For the record though I can't believe you gave it up to little Gilbert. I'd rather be celibate."_

_She hit his arm. "Jeremy is a nice guy and you know that. He's sweet and smart and_  I  _love him."_

_Damon hummed. "I think you can do better. Could do better."_

_His reply surprised her. "Since when?"_

_He waved a hand. "Since—I don't know. The Anna bullshit for one. I mean how do you cheat on your hot living girlfriend with a ghost? It makes no sense to me."_

_The Anna crap was something that Bonnie thought about from time to time. It was hard not to really. She was sure if she hadn't died and ended up depending on Jeremy for all forms of conversation, she probably wouldn't have taken him back. But their relationship trekked into a strange place while she was dead and she felt she got to know different sides of him. He spent so much time just_  talking  _to her when he could have been doing other things; it was touching._

_Shoving her hands into her pockets, she kicked a small rock out of her way. "He was there for me when I was dead."_

_Damon squinted. "Had we been able to see you, any of us would have been there for you too. Hell I yelled at you while you were dead so points for not treating you differently."_

_She snorted. "You want points for not having any compassion about my death?"_

_Damon stopped walking so that he could give her his full attention. "Is that what you think?" Before she could answer, he continued. "I'll admit I was_  concerned _about how Elena would take it but it's not like I wasn't sad too. Not like I wanted you to be dead."_

_Their eyes met and Bonnie saw something in them directed at her that she had never seen before. Empathy. "Oh. I didn't mean—"_

_"It's okay. I've been an asshole to you more times than I haven't so I can see how you would think that." He sighed deeply. "Honestly? I think it has less to do with you and more to do with Emily."_

_"How so?" She inquired. "You mean the whole destroying the necklace thing?"_

_"Yeah. That's the night things got fucked up for us. And they just kept steam rolling from then." He explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "I suppose that is water under the bridge now considering…this."_

_"I—I'd like it to be." She lowered her voice. "This place is nice but it's kinda scary too because of the unknown factor. I'd rather be here with you than alone."_

_Smiling just a little bit, Damon slipped his arm around her shoulders and tugged to get them walking again. "So we'll become best friends and have fun naked sleepovers. How does that sound?"_

_Bonnie giggled. "What is your fascination with nudity?"_

_He snickered. "Well it's just I've seen Elena naked and I've seen Caroline naked so…you're naturally next on the list. That's just how it goes."_

_The laugh that escaped her lips was loud even to her own ears. "Interesting logic you have there."_

_Damon winked. "I don't hear you disagreeing with it. I'm willing to make this a quid pro quo moment if that is what you need to grease the wheels."_

_Shaking her head, Bonnie made to break away from him when his hand caught her wrist. It traveled down to her hand where his pale fingers lingered before guiding her hand through the loop he made of his own arm. Neither said anything as they continued walking along, lost in their own thoughts. It was odd how natural it felt sometimes being stuck with Damon considering their past history. She honestly didn't know how he felt about her or how he saw her but she figured it was the same way everyone else did. Sure she was their friend but she was also their handy little nuke when shit went bad._

_Right up until the end._

_With her and Damon gone she wondered if Elena had spared her any tears. She hoped so at least but if not she knew at least Caroline was distraught. Not that she wanted her to be but, well; being missed meant that she'd been loved. And for all she had pontificated to Damon just a few moments earlier she couldn't say with one hundred percent certainty that Jeremy had loved her the way she wanted him to. He was too eager to hide things and run off with other little witches._

_"Can I ask you something really weird?" She nibbled on her bottom lip._

_"I'm never one to shy away from the weird." Damon replied easily. "Hit me."_

_Wetting her lips, she sighed. "What was it like loving Elena so…completely? Being willing to sacrifice everyone else for her."_

_His head swiveled around to face her, his eyes calculating. "Honestly? Scary as fuck. I guess that sounds stupid but it's the truth. I don't think—as people, or whatever in my case—we're meant to be so consumed by one person. Empathy is something that is supposed to stretch to everyone, not just the person we are in love with." A beat. "I'm not proud that I would let others die for her. It just is what it is."_

_Bonnie didn't really feel satisfied by that answer but she understood the first half of it. "I love Elena too but I—I've been trying to make sense of why I was so okay with dying for her. I think it's because I remember who she was before all of the bullshit and…that's the Elena I fight so hard for."_

_Damon arched a brow. "Sounds like you regret it._ "

Did she? " _I regret that it came to this. That I'm dead again and this time dragged you with me."_

 _He scoffed. "You didn't drag me anywhere_. This  _was just as much about getting Stefan back as it was getting rid of the Travelers. It wasn't your fault Liv and her asshole brother skipped out before I could come back. And…standing there seeing everything go white? Okay so don't get me wrong I'd rather be alive but I'm kinda glad I was able to be there with you." His fingers tightened around her upper arm. "You least of all should have to die alone again and face whatever this is."_

_Bonnie swallowed thickly to keep the tears at bay. If she and Damon kept having these emotional conversations she didn't know what she was going to do with herself. "If Emily hadn't destroyed your necklace do you think we would have been friends?"_

_His lips curled into a smirk. "I don't know. Even before than you used to look at me like you thought I was going to eat you."_

_She heard the dirty joke there but pretended otherwise. "You_  felt  _wrong. And you had Caroline acting like the biggest bitch."_

 _He snickered. "Hey I just compelled her to be cool. I didn't change her entire personality. We've all come a long way since then._ "

Some more than others. " _We have."_

_"Well if it isn't the Salvatores." A tall young man emerged from behind a tree, running a hand through his chin length blonde hair. "Out for an afternoon stroll?"_

_Most of the people that Bonnie and Damon had come into contact with were okay and willing to play their parts as friendly neighbors or whatever. But every once and a while—as with real life—they ran into an asshole that hadn't gotten the memo. Brett Greene was such an asshole. He was also a werewolf and Bonnie could vaguely remember him passing through her after dying in some explosion or something. He'd never said how he'd escaped the darkness and she had never asked, fearing she wouldn't like the answer._

_Damon had hated him on sight and the feeling was pretty mutual on Brett's end too._

_"Oh look honey, the neighbor's dog got out again." Damon said sarcastically. "Watch it or he might hump your leg."_

_Brett chuckled. "Maybe she would like that. Gotta be a damn sight better than what you're doing, brother."_

_Damon flinched. "Don't call me_  brother."

_Brett was amused. "Fair enough. Anyway how are you doing, Bonnie? Dare I say you're the best looking dead chick here. You get prettier every time I see you."_

_While Brett was handsome his douche bag personality killed much of it. "I'm fine. Everyone is fine here."_

_He glanced around, bored. "Want to go get something to eat? We've been here a while now and I don't know much about you except you were the anchor and from Mystic Falls. The witches don't gossip."_

_Damon held up a finger. "Or could be that they just don't like you. In any case Bonnie and I are busy."_

_Brett folded his arms over his chest. "Now who's the guard dog? You scared I'll steal her away from you?"_

_He knew they weren't together; another instance of asshole behavior._

_"Can we not do this today?" Bonnie asked in annoyance. "We're all dead so none of this matters. At all. Causing trouble for the sake of trouble is just stupid."_

_"Or fun." Brett grinned widely. "But okay I'll play nice but_ /I only i _because you asked hot stuff. See ya later, Salvatores." As he walked away he purposely knocked his shoulder into Damon's._

_Damon growled after him. "You think if I rip his heart out it'll just heal itself?"_

_She laughed. "Probably. And then he'll rip yours out and it'll become an annoying cycle. I'll have to find another friend to hang out with."_

_Making a face, Damon pulled her quicker down the sidewalk. "I'm surprised that even in paradise there are dicks that want in girls' pants. Now I know why I am really here. To protect your virtue."_

_Bonnie laughed again, her entire face lighting up. "Really? Earlier you were telling me I should strip for you."_

_His smile was charming and rather sexy. "But that's different. As your protector I'm entitled to seeing all of it so that I can make sure it's okay. Unspoiled."_

Oh my god! " _Quit it you are creeping me out! You're like a dirty old man."_

_He didn't disagree. "Well, technically…"_

_Suddenly something heavy and gray came hurtling out of the window of a house just as they passed at break neck speed. It would have slammed right into Bonnie's side if Damon hadn't grabbed her around the waist and threw both of them to the ground. She ended up under him with grass in her hair and his upper body shielding her from whatever else might come flying out. When nothing immediately did, he looked up before slowly moving to the side._

_"You okay?" He helped her sit up. "What the fuck was that?"_

_Heart hammering in her chest—or perhaps just the sensation—Bonnie exhaled deeply. "A dishwasher." She pointed to it lying in the street. "Jesus that scared the shit out of me."_

_Damon stood and pulled her up with him. "Guess I'm not the only one prone to temper tantrums."_

_Dragging her fingers through her cute bob, she smiled at him. "Thanks for saving me. Not sure getting hit with it would have hurt but better safe than sorry."_

_Their eyes met and his expression grew soft. "No problem. What are dashing protectors for_?"

The snapping of a twig brought Bonnie back to the present and she looked up just in time to see Jeremy making his way over to her. She was sitting on a blanket on the Salvatore lawn, enjoying the nice cool breeze and just zoning out for a little while. Damon had been kidnapped by Enzo and Alaric to do something or other in town, and inside the Salvatore mansion was just too stifling with Elena haunting the halls. She and Damon were going to officially move into her house now that they knew it was in good condition later on. She got the feeling Damon didn't want to as much as he said he did and she could understand that. Who wanted a simple two story when they could live in a freaking mansion?

But with Elena  _and_ Jeremy around it was just easier to go…for a little while anyway. She was all for a stress free lifestyle these days especially because of the baby.

When Jeremy was within earshot he called out, "You look relaxed."

She smiled. "I am. Or as relaxed as I can be with extra cargo."

His smile was tight and didn't reach his eyes. "So. Can we talk?"

She knew it was coming. "Sure."

Jeremy sat down in front of her. "I've been thinking a lot since you got back and I really am happy you're here. I know I didn't act like it but, well this is all weird. I look at you and I  _see_  that you're different but my head still doesn't get it. It feels like just yesterday we were camping out in a hotel room for some alone time."

Bonnie watched him. "I'm sorry this is hard for you. If—if we had known years hadn't passed I'm not sure we would have came back to Mystic Falls."

He fiddled with a leaf for something to do. "You would have gone on letting us think you were dead?"

She sighed. "No. I'm sure we would have called. Eased everyone into this."

He huffed. "I don't think there is any  _easing_  into this. You died loving me and now you love Damon. I hear rebirth can change you but I didn't know it could go that far."

Smoothing a hand along the back of her neck, she found that she was at a loss as to what to say. Because she had said it all before and it was clear hearing it again wouldn't help Jeremy just like it hadn't helped Elena. "I wish I could show you what it was like, what I experienced so that it made more sense to you. The best I can offer without sounding like a broken record is people change. Give them years and they change."

Obviously that wasn't good enough for him. "Yeah I get that. You've changed a lot if you think Damon is a good guy. I mean yeah he's helped us but it was all for selfish reasons. All for Elena. How do you know he's not gonna suddenly decide he wants her again?"

"Because love doesn't work that way and you know it. You don't just wake up and decide who to give your heart to." She explained. "What he had with Elena was profound but it's over. I'm not worried at all."

"He's going to be a terrible father."

"You don't know that. You don't even know him anymore."

"I know he was an asshole for over one hundred years. If all that time couldn't change him I doubt three can."

"The situations are vastly different."

Jeremy's brows narrowed. "I think you just want to believe they are because there is no going back now. But what are you going to do if things don't work out the way you think?  _If_  Damon was in fact to start to have feelings for Elena again. I mean there is a kid in the mix now…"

Bonnie exhaled deeply to keep her emotions in check but her hormones were another matter. She understood that Jeremy was hurting and lashing out, but she didn't appreciate him trying to put doubts into her mind. As if she hadn't thought about all of this beforehand. As if she hadn't agonized about all of the cons when it came to giving her heart to Damon; she'd be a fool not to.

"Damon's not you, Jeremy. He's not going to throw me over for an old flame just because she shows up again." She said matter of fact.

Jeremy visibly flinched at her words. "I've apologized for the Anna thing more times than I can remember. I don't—I don't even know why I—maybe because we didn't have any real closure. But I love  _you_." Frowning, he pulled himself to his feet. "You don't even care do you? Neither of you care how much you've fucked up everyone's lived by being incredibly selfish."

She glared at him. "How were we selfish? Because we refused to spend three years—which we thought was going to be the rest of eternity—mourning people we knew we would never see again? Because we managed to find some happiness in what seemed like an impossible situation?" She was slower to get up than he was but she made it. "I am  _truly_  sorry that you and Elena are having such a hard time dealing with this but it is what it is now. And nothing you say is going to change any of it. Did you think you would come out here, bad mouth Damon and I'd automatically leave him? Forget that he was the only person there for me in that other world?"

He folded his arms over his chest. "Ah so you just fall for whoever is there for you when things are rough? I get it now."

She prickled with anger at his insinuation. "And here I thought you were a man, not the sad little boy you used to be."

Instead of snapping back at her Jeremy turned and stalked off towards the manor. She balled her small hands into fist and had to really fight down the urge to make a tree fall on him. She could feel her power brimming in the tips of her fingers and after so long of nothing it was nice to experience it again. However thrusting it out into the world and having a sinkhole swallow Jeremy wouldn't solve anything no matter what her hormones told her. It would just cause more issues and of course she didn't actually want him hurt. They were both angry and said some things they probably didn't mean.

Yet it was getting harder and harder to feel sorry for the Gilberts when they kept going on about things the way they were. The  _last_  thing she had wanted to do was hurt Jeremy or cause him any type of pain but the fact that he wasn't even attempting to see things from her perspective was insanely grating. Especially considering his tryst with Anna—how he was taking the high road with that at his back she had no idea. At least she and Damon had assumed they were all on the same time frame. As far as she was concerned there was no cheating involved on either of their parts.

The dead couldn't cheat on the living.

Needing to just be  _away_ or risk setting something on fire, she took off on foot without telling anyone where she was going. She ended up at the cemetery of all places and decided while she was there she should visit her father's grave. It was nice and clean with a tasteful arrangement of flowers resting against his sturdy headstone. She tried to imagine what he would say if he could see her now and unfortunately nothing that came to mind was good. He had not been a fan of vampires and she doubted he'd understand  _anything_  about her new…life. He loved his family though so she could see him putting aside differences for his grandchild. She hated that he would never get to meet him or her. That Grams would never get to meet him or her either. When it came to responsible adults that she could go to for guidance she was sorely lacking. Alaric was okay but he had no children and currently thought bitching with Enzo was a good idea.

 _Maybe Caroline's mom will help. I don't see the harm in asking her_.

"Bonnie." It was Stefan.

 _Where did he come from_? "Hey. What are you doing here?"

He ducked his head. "I…saw you leaving and decided to follow you. We uh—we're pretty sure all of the Travelers left but you never know."

She smiled at his concern. "Thank you for the concern. Kinda puts you at the head of the list for godfather but don't tell the others. I think Damon likes them fighting about it."

Stefan laughed. "Are you okay?"

She shrugged lightly. "Yes and no. Jeremy pissed me off earlier and now I'm at my father's grave and…I don't know. Can't stop thinking about how things could be. I'm so sad he's not here."

He nodded. "Your dad was a good man who just wanted to save this town. I can't see him being anything but proud of you." He took a step closer. "And Jeremy will calm down once the dust settles."

 _I_   _guess_. "Maybe. I'm just tired of apologizing."

"Then stop." He suggested easily. "You've told everyone what happened and they can either deal with it or not. No one is at fault here."

Every time she talked to Stefan he reminded her why she liked him. "Definitely at the head of the list." He chuckled and she continued. "Oh that uh—that reminds me. Lexi found peace at the end. She actually beat the crap out of Markos and then disappeared before the darkness could get her."

A small sad smile touched Stefan's lips. "Sounds like her. I wish she could have come back with us but as long as she is okay."

"She is. I think she's wherever my Grams is." She explained. "I wanted her to crossover but she said she couldn't, not until you were alright. She seems like she was a really great friend."

"She was." He ran a hand through his hair. "I hope I see her again someday. You know when I first got back I was plagued with guilt because of what happened to you and Damon. I felt like I didn't deserve to be alive and that he shouldn't have died trying to save me. But seeing you guys now and knowing that you're going to be a family, it doesn't make it worth it but it helps. Knowing you're happy helps."

Bonnie hugged him. "We are happy. Even with all the drama we're very happy."

He gave her a squeeze. "Then don't worry about anything else. I'll keep talking to Elena and helping her see this isn't about her, not really. I know deep down she feels awful because she can't just be happy and excited for you."

 _It will never not amaze me how he manages to always see the good in her_. "I really hope she comes around one day but if she doesn't…" Trailing off, she turned back to her father's grave. "Then she doesn't. I have to focus on myself and my baby now. I can't care about her the way I used to."

Stefan of course understood. "Don't worry about it. There comes a point when we all have to do what is right for us."

Where Elena was concerned, she felt she was way past that point.

* * *

 "Do you want me to kill him for you?"

Bonnie laughed and Damon grinned as his nimble fingers worked their magic on her lower back, easing out the kinks in her stiff muscles. They were in her living room on her comfortable sofa, half watching tv and eating popcorn. He had spent most of the day playing referee between Enzo and Alaric, and as weird as it sounded he'd actually enjoyed himself. There was just something fun about having his two best friends in his inner circle again, more so because they didn't like each other and were not afraid to show it. He felt like they were fighting over him and his ego was big enough to like that sort of thing. Though of course he reminded himself that Stefan was next on the list of spending time with.

When he had been able to break away from those jokers for a moment, he'd gone and saw the Sheriff to touch base. Caroline had told her all of the juicy details but she was still happy he and Bonnie were alive. Apparently the town had not been the same without him. Like others she was  _shocked_  about the baby news and gave him a bit of a hard time for it but she had been smiling to let him know she was joking. She offered her support and he readily accepted it. He also told her to make sure Caroline didn't go overboard with whatever she was planning. However they both knew there was no controlling her in party mode.

Anyway when he'd returned home he'd been told by Stefan than Bonnie had fled to her own house but he didn't want to get in the middle of anything. Well come to find out Jeremy had upset her by being a little asshole and now he wanted to break Jeremy's neck but have it stick this time. Who the hell was  _he_  to judge anything they were doing? Who the hell was  _he_  to say he would be a bad father? Well Jeremy Gilbert didn't know shit because Damon was going to kick fatherhood in the ass.

"He's just a jealous dick." Damon leaned forward and kissed the back of her neck. "I wouldn't even worry about him if I were you. His fancy steroid arms don't scare me one bit."

She turned her face to the side and nuzzled his cheek. "They are making it so hard to feel bad for them. I want to, I really do but between my hormones and the always apologizing I'm about to give up."

 _Sounds good to me_. "Give up. There is no rule that says you have to be unhappy because they are too. I think Jeremy likes misery anyway."

She ate a few more pieces of popcorn. "I just—I imagine living in this town and them never coming to terms with our relationship and it kinda hurts. Back in the day Elena, Caroline and I had such big plans for our kids all being best friends. And we would all be godmother somehow. Now I'm the only one who can have a child and Caroline is the only one who's excited with me."

He pouted. "I'm excited with you."

Bonnie snickered. "Oh you know what I mean. I want all my girls excited."

Damon  _really_  hated when Bonnie was upset especially when it was with something she couldn't control. While talking to Elena again wasn't something he wanted to do he would if it helped at all. Though he kinda hoped things would work themselves out so that he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty. Not in that way, he did wanna kill Jeremy though.

"Maybe once she sees you and Caroline hanging out she'll get all nostalgic and shit." Crazier things had happened.

"I suppose we shall see what the future holds." Flopping back against him, she kissed his jaw. "I went three years without Elena and I was fine. I'll be okay if nothing changes."

He didn't believe that but he didn't say that either. "Damn right you will be. Now what's this I hear about you saying Stefan is at the head of the list for godfather?"

As Bonnie giggled and tried to explain herself he wrapped his arms around her waist and settled in. Somehow he would fix all of this for her. And if it took a little violence well, who was he was rock the boat?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Things between Bonnie and the Gilberts were still frosty two weeks later and even more so where Jeremy was concerned. She hadn't spoken to Elena at all on a one to one basis about the new arrangement, and she figured it was better for all parties involved if she avoided Jeremy like the plague. Or risk doing some serious damage to him or anything near him. It saddened her to not have those relationships anymore but she was looking out for her own wellbeing now, and that didn't include stretching herself to the limit for people that didn't want to be bothered.

Either they would come around and everyone would be happy or they wouldn't. She hoped for the former but would make peace with the latter.

It was almost surreal to take a stroll around town and see just how much things had not changed. She had expected things to look different and really wished they did. How easy things would be if it had been years and not just months. There were a few random familiar faces that she recognized, mostly people she had gone to high school with or friends of her dad. Each time they realized who she was their eyes would widen and she could just hear them thinking  _what_   _the_   _hell_? It was funny because she was sure no one paid that much attention to her or what she did. Hell some still had no clue her father was dead; an amazing feat considering he had a grave and everything.

The more she looked around however the more she asked herself if Mystic Falls was the right place for her to raise her child. On a good day it was lovely and quaint with friendly people and that low key atmosphere she liked. On a bad day it was death and destruction and bodies in the middle of the street. There was no guarantee something or someone else wouldn't pop up to cause trouble in the future. She would not survive her baby being hurt or worse, she just wouldn't. But Mystic Falls was all she knew except for those few scant days in Montgomery for college.

Sighing deeply, she moved over to a bench and slowly sat down. There were kids playing in the park and chasing a ball back and forth. Idly she imagined what her and Damon's baby would look like. She kinda hoped it had his eyes though she wouldn't tell him because she would never hear the end of it. Damon had bad qualities up the ass but his good ones were loyalty and bravery, and she hoped their child was just as loyal and brave. And a witch or warlock but that was neither here nor there.

_Will it have vampire strength and speed? Will it want blood or be completely human? Or will it be able to talk to the dead because technically we were dead when it was conceived?_

Lately Bonnie had a theory on what part their live baby played in bringing them back to the land of the living. She died as the anchor—stuck between life and death—so she supposed even in that pleasant zone there had to be a spark of life left about her. Or maybe whatever her Grams had done. She wagered that life needed to be  _living_  so it somehow sucked them back into their rightful dimension. Damon could have easily been left behind and she sort of believed he wasn't because something was looking out for them.

Yawning, she smoothed a hand across her stomach and smiled when a tiny foot kicked out. She needed a checkup. Putting it off wasn't doing anyone any good.  _Tomorrow. I'll tell Damon and I_   _will_   _go_   _tomorrow_.

"What are you in there, hm?" She asked softly. "I think I know but let's not tell daddy, okay? He has no patience and it'll be funny watching him try to wait. We should think of a name for you. Maybe Damon has some nice old family names we can use."

Bonnie knew the baby's last name would be Salvatore or  _Bennett_ -Salvatore. She and Damon hadn't talked about marriage or whatever but she supposed it was on the table. She wanted them all to have the same last name. She wasn't worried about getting married or being married before it was born though. There was no fear that Damon would get bored and leave her, not after everything they had been through. Yes sometimes it was still odd to say that she was with Damon but it also made sense to her.

They fit better than they wanted to admit.

"Bonnie!" Caroline spotted her as she jumped out of her car and immediately jogged over. "Hey! I was just about to go to your house and see you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good." She scooted over so that her friend could sit down. "Just getting reacquainted with the town."

Caroline smiled at her. "I don't think this place will ever change that much. They're going to rebuild the Grille actually as it was. I'm like they could at least add on a lounge or something but whatever."

Bonnie chuckled. "Guess everyone is stuck in their ways."

The blonde huffed. "Oh! So…since it appears the whole baby shower idea might be a bust with only a few people willing to come if they are threatened—and yeah I mean the guys—I was thinking what if I just make them buy you something nice? And it could be a little gift giving party instead? There can still be balloons and cake and food."

In truth Bonnie didn't feel like she needed anything but she could see how doing  _something_  made Caroline excited and she felt she couldn't dampen that. "You're going to make our friends buy me baby gifts?"

Caroline nodded happily. "Yup. Enzo is broke so he'll probably compel you a gift but still you deserve stuff. Though it  _would_  be better if we knew what color to get you…"

 _Sneaky, sneaky_. "It doesn't really matter. Boys can wear pink and girls can wear blue. But I do plan to go to the doctor's tomorrow so hopefully we will find out then."

Caroline squealed. "That would be awesome!" Gently placing a hand to her friend's tummy, she concentrated while waiting for movement. "I can't believe Elena isn't getting in on this. I feel like she wants to but she's not letting herself. She's being totally unreasonable."

 _I agree_. "She is allowed a little bit. This is a strange adjustment for all of us."

Caroline shrugged. "I'm okay with it. Ah! It moved! Hi there little baby! I'm your Aunty Caroline and all you need to know is that I'm awesome and you're to come to me if you want something and mommy or daddy won't get it for you."

Bonnie laughed. "I don't know how I feel about you spoiling my kid rotten. But I don't know how I would stop you."

"Damn straight." The blonde giggled. "I don't know. We've had such hard luck lately that a baby is like a new beginning. I—I'll probably never get a chance to have any of my own so I can live vicariously through you."

"You could always adopt, Care."

"Yeah I guess. But I'd need a husband or a boyfriend and I don't have one of those either."

"Isn't Enzo always following you around?"

"Heh he's always  _annoying_  the hell out of me. Maybe Stefan will fake marry me though if I bug him about it.

A brow arched. "You and Stefan are like best friends huh?"

Caroline tilted her head. "Yeah, we are. I feel like I can tell him anything and he won't judge me."

Bonnie stared at her for a minute, detecting something more but decided not to chase it. She didn't want to scare off all her friends after all. "That's good. Everyone needs someone like that."

Caroline poked her arm. "Is that person Damon for you?"

"It is now." Bonnie said honestly. "We had some really frank conversations while we were dead." Tucking strands of dark hair behind her ear, she frowned. "Is Elena mad at you for talking to me?"

Her friend shook her head. "No. I  _do_  kinda feel caught in the middle but that's my own fault. When she talks about stuff it's usually just Damon and how things were before he died. The last things he said to her."

 _I don't know whether I am happy or mad about that_. "Interesting."

"Okay!" Caroline clapped her hands together and hopped up. "Enough whatever this is. Let's go shopping! Have you even  _looked_  at baby clothes since you've been back?"

She hadn't. "No. Been busy getting my dad's—my house the way we want it and stuff. Damon and I haven't did much of anything except show up and be alive."

Grabbing her arm, Caroline slowly helped her stand. "Even more reason for us to go look at little dresses and shoes and socks. I think my mom still has all my old baby clothes too if you want. Though getting new stuff would be even better."

Bonnie found herself unable to say no, not that she really wanted to anyway. Shopping and looking at adorable little clothes sounded like fun and maybe it was about time she started actively planning for parenthood. The only reason she wasn't focusing on all that is because there was so much to do! And she had no idea where to start. She then made a mental note to looking stuff up online and perhaps check around for Lamaze classes. They couldn't flounder forever.

"Let's go." She grinned. "I might even let you buy me something."

* * *

  _After a while it stopped being odd or worrisome to wake up and not feel the ache in his chest anymore. Damon assumed there would be major guilt whenever he could think about Elena and not want to slam his fist into a wall but surprisingly there wasn't. In fact it felt_ … nice  _to be able to exist and not have this overwhelming sense of sadness clouding his every movement. So much so that he and Bonnie had developed a routine that was pretty damn domestic to be honest. It sneaked upon him bit by bit because he spent most of his time with her, and when she suggested they get out of the house to just_  do something  _he went along with it. Really what the hell else as he going to do? Write sad songs in a dark room?_

_This was apparently the life or eternity he had now and considering he could have been swallowed by some random dark, invisible being he was doing pretty well. And…spending time with Bonnie wasn't as sucky as he thought it would be. She was actually pretty cool underneath all the judging and shit._

_Their neighborhood had a wide lake of shining blue water nestled in the woods where he assumed people were supposed to have picnics and stuff. Or maybe go fishing since there was a long wooden dock stretching off from bright green grass. They'd found it on one of their random—get out of the house—walks and with it being such a nice day Damon decided to go for a swim. There was no one else around so he stripped down to nothing and dived in while she laughed from her place on the dock, sitting with her legs dangling off the side._

_As he swam around and let the cool water soothe him, he thought about his life and all the shit he'd done. Honestly he couldn't understand why he wasn't burning in Hell right now. In the grand scheme of things vampires in general were Hell bound and it made sense. Most—even the nice ones—had a moment where they killed because they could or because they wanted to see how it felt. And sometimes they went off the rails like he did and killed because it was fun. The other side wasn't bad but it obviously hadn't been_  good  _either. People like him were supposed to go to bad places. Not simply wander._

 _He cut his eyes to Bonnie and disappeared under the water. Had her goodness_  really  _been that amazing that it was powerful enough to drag him from perdition?_

_Surfacing, he smoothed his hair back off his forehead. Bonnie had her face turned up to the sun and in that moment she looked quite a bit like Emily; she'd loved being outside on sunny days. He had mixed emotions about her sometimes so naturally that had translated to her great, great whatever granddaughter. "You should come in."_

_Bonnie arched a brow. "I don't have a suit."_

_He grinned. "Neither did I and it didn't stop me. I promise to behave."_

_She chuckled, biting her bottom lip. In the seven months_ —and man, it had been seven months!—s _ince waking up here he'd started to notice little things about her. Like how cute she looked when she was trying not to blush but couldn't help_   _herself. "Oh really?" She teased. "Screw it, why not? You've proven to be pretty trustworthy. Turn around."_

 _Smiling, he did as she requested and waited, listening to the sound of her undressing. He could hear the fabric sliding against her skin before dropping to the dock. He could hear zippers being pulled down and buttons undone, shoes being tossed behind her and silk joining the pile of clothes. And he wouldn't lie it was sexy for reasons he couldn't exactly explain. Usually he was more of a ripping shirts off type of guy but staring at the water and_  listening  _to a bra being removed was possibly hotter._

_There was a splash, water hitting his back and then Bonnie was beside him. He turned and she was wading close, sunk down low so that from the tops of her shoulders and up was visible. "Now that wasn't so hard was it?"_

_She glanced around. "I guess not. It's warmer than I thought it would be. I'll be kinda sad if we don't get like a winter. I want snow."_

_He hummed. "Well this place sorta bends to our will so I'm sure we'll wake up tomorrow and it'll be winter. And our closets will be filled with ugly coats."_

_Laughing, Bonnie tucked wet hair behind her ears. "But we'll be able to make a snowman and finally use the fireplace. And—and it would make things more normal."_

_Damon nodded. "You know we should do holidays. We could have a Christmas tree if you wanted. I'll knock one down."_

_Giggling, her eyes lit up. "That might be kind of fun actually. And if we can't find ornaments we could just throw whatever on it." Pause. "When I was little my dad would always let me decorate our tree and Grams had this…weird looking angel she insisted go on top no matter what. It kind of freaked me out but the one year we thought we had lost it, I missed it."_

_"I spent most of my Christmases shacking up with random girls or at parties I compelled my way into."_

_"That sounds sad."_

_"No it was fun. I met a lot of interesting people and the food was great. Nothing like an eggnog buzz from some rich girl's blood."_

_"Charming."_

_Damon shrugged and slowly circled her. "You know I'm not a boy scout. I've did a lot worse than feed on some random chick to get a buzz off her blood."_

_Bonnie watched him but her expression wasn't filled with the disgust he saw in the past. "I know." Her voice was soft. "I had a front row seat for some of it_."

Maybe being here with her is my salvation but also my penance. I mean I have to look her in the eye everyday knowing I killed her mother and that I was willing to sacrifice her ten times over for Elena. I would be completely dead if it wasn't of her; I owe her everything.

" _For what it's worth I'm sorry about that bullshit. Impulse control has never been my strong suit." He admitted. "Maybe when I was human."_

 _Instead of berating him, she just flicked some water at him. "I would have_  loved  _to have seen you human. All floppy haired or whatever."_

Are you kidding me? " _I_  did not  _have floppy hair. I had normal hair for the time period. The ladies loved me; I got marriage proposals every day from fathers who wanted me to marry their daughters."_

_She was amused. "Did you ever think about accepting one?"_

_He shook his head. "No. I always felt like I was destined for more than simply settling down and having kids. Though when Katherine showed up that all changed until I found out what she really was."_

_"I've always wanted kids. Elena and I used to think of names for our children and talk about how they would grow up together." A beat. "Caroline has had her kids' preschool picked out since she was twelve_.  _Sad that none of us will have any now."_

_"I could catch you a squirrel and you could dress it up if you want." He joked, hoping to lighten the mood._

_It worked. "Why don't we table that idea and come back to it in about twenty years?" Smirking, she motioned to the dock. "Wanna go get something to eat?"_

_"I'll cook." Damon wiggled his brows. "If…"_

_Bonnie pointed a finger at him. "I know the end of that sentence is going to somehow deal with me naked and the answer is no!"_

Huh she knows me better than I thought.  _"You're no fun. Okay how about I'll cook if you check me out naked?"_

 _Bonne laughed and splashed him right in the face. Retaliating and it started a_  vicious  _splashing war and he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so carefree. Knowing they could do this for as long as they wanted and nothing would interrupt— barring dog boy—but at least he wasn't dangerous. And if he did show up it would be a good excuse to try to drown him_.

I wonder if Bonnie would actually let me attempt it. Maybe I could do it while she's distracted if I point out something shiny.

 _By the time Damon and Bonnie made it back to their home the sun had set and there was a comfortable breeze stirring. They were both soaking wet but smiling and Damon was more relax than he could remember being for like, years. He had been happy with Elena once things were settled and there was no more sire bond in the way, but their relationship had been so volatile. He was always doing something she didn't like and she was always pretending not to be bothered by whatever he had done. In hindsight he supposed what they had most of all was great sex. Which was_  nothing  _to scoff at of course but it probably wasn't something to keep them together forever. It sucked a little that he wouldn't get to see if they would_ really _work out but hey, shit happens._

_He was rubbing a towel across his wet hair and heading into Bonnie's room to ask what she wanted for dinner when he noticed her window open. Leaning out, he frowned and climbed out onto the small ledge, easily propelling himself up onto the sloped roof. "What are you doing out here? You could have fallen."_

_She was newly changed and wrapped in a blanket, knees pulled up to her chest. "And died?"_

_He snorted. "Point taken." Sighing he dropped down beside her. "What are you doing?"_

_Gesturing up to the sky, she smiled. "Just watching the stars come out. Today was a nice day. I had fun with you."_

_"I had fun with you too, judgy." He teased light-heartedly. "I think we're gonna make this living together while dead thing work."_

_"Do you think it's interesting how we get along when there is no one else around?" She inquired lightly. "I mean each time it's been just you and me—after like we could be civil—we had no problems. I thought I would hate you forever for all the shit you put me through but I don't. I thought being stuck anywhere with you would be terrible but it isn't. It's kinda weird."_

_"Perhaps." He said vaguely. "But I think it's like with Stefan and I. For so long all I wanted to do was make his life a living hell and destroy any chance he had at happiness. But when it was just us sometimes we'd act like real brothers. And hey if anyone else tried to hurt him I never hesitated to save his broody ass." He glanced at her. "Sometimes the emotion you feel for someone isn't the_  true  _emotion it's just heat of the moment. And anyway you know things change, people change."_

_"True." She wet her lips, seemingly contemplative but unwilling to talk about it. "So, dinner? Kinda in the mood for tacos."_

_Damon patted her back and decided not to pry though lately if something was bothering her, he wanted to know what it was. Lately…he'd also noticed things about her that he'd never say out loud because that would be awkward and stupid. But Bonnie was—well she had a smile he looked forward to in the morning if that meant anything. Especially after a hard night of unsettling dreams._

_Obviously it did but he wasn't going to dwell because, tacos!_

 "Damon? Earth to Damon."

Lifting a brow, Damon smirked and took the drink Stefan was offering him. "Sorry I spaced out for a minute. Were you droning on about something?"

Stefan snorted and sat down across from him. "I think I was. I was asking you what your long term plans are but I suppose that's silly."

Damon chuckled. "No it's not silly. Granted any other time I would seriously bust your balls about it but I'll let it slide since you thought I was dead for three months. My plans. Raise my kid and try not to screw it up like our dad did us?"

Stefan nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Damon squinted at him. "I guess we both figured between the two of us you'd be the one carrying on the Salvatore line. I know that is what father wanted."

His brother shrugged easily. "When I was having those hallucinations with Elena there were children and life was so normal. It was a good life. If that's what you have to look forward to then I'm happy for you, brother. There has been so much death lately; it'll be nice to see life for a change."

 _And that hurts though I know it wasn't supposed to_. "Yeah. Still I don't think I should be rewarded considering all the fucked up shit I have pulled over the years. You were a Ripper but not by choice. The same can't be said for me."

Stefan exhaled. "It's not a contest, Damon. We all have been through a lot and suffered for decisions we made in the past. Or do you think being locked up and tortured for years isn't some type of karma? You died saving a lot of people so maybe you're due a little goodness."

Sipping his alcohol, Damon made a face. "Then what's  _your_  goodness? You stopped killing people a long time before I did. Surprised you and Elena didn't grow closer over my death…"

Stefan's lips twitched. "We stayed as close as we were and she was in no position for…offering comfort. Caroline was the shoulder I leaned on so as not to burden anyone else. She really stepped up taking care of all of us."

 _Interesting_. "Yeah Barbie vamp isn't so bad once you get used to her. Being turned mellowed her out. Can I take credit for that yet without being punched in the face?"

"Um maybe." The younger Salvatore grinned. "She might be less inclined to hit you since she's still riding on the high of planning a baby shower. She keeps trying to put me on balloon duty, whatever that is."

Laughing, Damon stretched out his long legs. "Nice to see  _some_  people getting into the spirit." Draining his Scotch, he sat his glass on the table. "I'm pretty sure Jeremy wants me to murder him. And I know Elena wants to murder me so…yeah. Good times."

"It's a difficult situation."

"Maybe to a toddler. People fall in and out of love all the time. What's so complicated about it?"

"The time difference for one. If it had been years here I think things would be different. If Bonnie wasn't pregnant and it seeming so soon things would be different."

"I'm not with Bonnie because I knocked her up. I'm with her because I fell head over heels in love with her. I'm getting tired of explaining myself."

"You don't have to explain yourself to  _me_." Stefan replied. "I understand."

Damon sulked a little bit, brows furrowed close together. Of course Stefan would understand because he was  _Stefan_  and Stefan would understand throwing your baby off a bridge if you explained it thoroughly enough. He probably wouldn't agree and maybe even attempt to kill you afterwards, but he would understand. There was a chance his baby brother bottled up his emotions; it would explain why he turned into a Ripper when he wasn't policing himself. All of that angst and aggression had to come out  _some_  how.

"Elena is never going to get over this." Damon said rather matter of fact. "And I personally wouldn't care that much for myself but I know it's hurting Bonnie so…I'm used to people being pissed off at me."

Stefan leaned forward, his voice low. "As with most things it is just going to take time. You're going to have to be patient and let everyone sort through their emotions."

 _Boring_. "We'll see. I suppose I should stop being such a bitch about this. I… _may_  remember how I reacted when I thought Elena broke up with me and it was much worse than bitch facing at her a lot. She is entitled to her feelings."

Stefan blinked. "Wow that almost sounds like personal growth. Should I be worried?"

Damon grinned. "Nope. Bonnie's been good for me. Dying was good for me too. It brought an odd sort of clarity into my life." A beat. "Elena and I weren't good for each other and we knew it, but we liked to pretend otherwise. I think—I think we just didn't wanna give up. I mean we'd blown up our relationships with other people and there had been attraction there for a long time so just throwing in the towel when we learned we weren't compatible seemed stupid."

His brother didn't comment on  _that_  one way or the other. "Hey, why don't we go for a drive or something? Take your mind off of everything. And I can put in my bid for godfather."

Chuckling, Damon stood up. "Sure. Though to be honest you're already miles ahead of Enzo who I'm  _pretty_   _sure_  only wants the title because Alaric wants it. Their sexual tension is killing me."

That got a big laugh from Stefan—one of his rare ones—and Damon realized that he'd missed his stupid little brother in the three years he'd been gone. It wasn't unusual but with their past sometimes it was hard to remember how close they'd been once upon a time. Even when they were getting along things still felt strained because Elena was in the mix. Now they were both apparently over her and much better for it. Not that everything was her fault because it wasn't. He and Stefan had their parts to play just like she did.

However with any luck they could now focus on the future. Oh he was still going to be a pain in Stefan's ass because he wouldn't be  _Damon_   _Salvatore_  if he didn't, but he hoped there would be no more stabbing any time soon.

Well…maybe a  _little_  stabbing. Just to keep things interesting.

* * *

 As with most rooms in the doctor's office it was slightly too cool to be comfortable and smelling strongly of alcohol and disinfectant. Bonnie sat on the raised table with her hands in her lap, waiting for the doctor to come back and administer her first ultrasound. If she were being honest with herself she would say that she was nervous but she supposed every new mom felt that way. But considering the circumstances of their conception it wasn't hard to see why she might be more so. Of course they hadn't told the doctor that. If anything was wrong she wasn't sure what she would do. Try to fix it and just hope there was a way.

Damon was leaning against the plush leather bed with his hip close to her thigh, his eyes sweeping over the posters in the room. She had told him he didn't need to come but he'd insisted, saying there was no way he was going to miss seeing his kid for the first time. It was beyond comforting to have his support and a little amusing to actually experience it. After all Damon had never struck her as the fatherly type before this. Stefan yes but not Damon.

Sometimes he didn't appear as old as he honestly was. Sometimes he looked college aged and lord knows he could be more immature than a fourteen year old. Other times he would rattle off some fact about 1945 and she would suddenly remember that he was over one hundred years old. That he needed blood to survive. Yet standing beside her right now he looked like any other young guy waiting with his pregnant wife or girlfriend.

"Wanna make a bet on what we are having?" She asked him. "I could pay you in sexual favors if I lose."

His grin was lazy but cheerful. "How about you pay me in those no matter what? Heh hey maybe it's twins."

Bonnie balked. "No way. I would know if it's twins and it is  _not_  twins."

Damon pouted. "But one of each would be awesome just in case we can never have anymore."

That piqued her interest. "You'd want more? If we could I mean…"

In his usual way of saying everything with his eyebrows, he blinked at her. "Sure, why not? I think we'll manage to keep this one alive and more might be fun."

 _Might be fun he says_. "Let's just focus on this one coming out first and then we'll see about…others."

As Damon grinned and kissed her cheek the door opened and surprisingly Meredith Fell strolled into the room. Bonnie assumed she had left town because she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her. "Doctor Fell, what are you doing here? I mean you're not an Obgyn."

Meredith smiled. "No but when I heard who was in here I offered to help since we are a little backed up. And...I figured with the nature of this pregnancy you should have a doctor that actually understands what is going on. Don't worry I'm trained."

"So we'd hope." Damon replied wryly. "Where were you when Markos and his crazies were turning this town upside down?"

She went about setting up, pulling on a pair of gloves. "Laying low as much as I could. They were going after people in positions of power so I made myself as normal and boring as I could. Even thought about leaving town." She had Bonnie lay back and lift her shirt so that she could squirt cold gel onto her stomach. "Now usually the first ultrasound is vaginal but since you're already showing I think topical will work just fine. Do you know how far long you are?"

Bonnie exhaled slowly. "Six months I think. It's hard to know exactly especially now considering how weird time moved compared to there and here."

Meredith nodded and turned on the monitor, picking up the wand and gently smoothing it along the gel. "Well I suppose as long as you feel alright and there has been no cramping or bleeding, the exact time table doesn't matter. Now, let's see here." She adjusted the screen, wiggled the wand around and suddenly a deep whirling sound filled the room. "Ah there we go."

Biting her bottom lip, Bonnie shifted so that she could see what was going on. She'd seen ultrasounds before—everyone had if they'd ever watched a medical drama—but it was beyond different seeing her  _own_. The image on the screen was grayish but clearly a baby, curved inward and apparently resting peacefully. Its tiny hand was out in front of its face like it had just discovered it and when it jerked Bonnie felt it.

"Oh wow." She whispered. "It's real."

Damon was staring just as intently as she was. "Is it okay? What is it?"

Meredith grinned softly. "Your baby is fine. The heartbeat is very strong and I don't see any…abnormalities. Your  _son_  is totally perfect."

Damon gasped—he  _actually_ —gasped. "Son. I—we—it's a boy?"

"Yes. Congratulations." Meredith said happily. "I want to take a little blood and run a few tests to make  _sure_  everything is okay." She handed Bonnie a tissue so that she could clean up. "And get you a picture to take home."

Bonnie tidied herself up and pulled her shirt down, chuckling at the shocked expression on Damon's face. He looked as if he'd just seen a ghost and considering he'd seen several over the years—as well as been one—she was amused. They were going to have a little boy. There was going to be an adorable little boy whose laughter would hopefully fill their home. She could only guess how Damon was feeling; she was beyond ecstatic but she realized sons and fathers sometimes had very close bonds.

"You okay?" She inquired teasingly.

He blinked at her. "Yeah. I—yeah. We're having a little boy.  _We're having a little boy_. Crap now everyone  _is_  going to want to be godfather."

Bonnie laughed and gave him a big hug. "Caroline will be happy to finally know she can do blue things. Man, we're having a boy!" Damon was still sort of shell shocked; she'd never seem him this quiet. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah.  _Yes_." He kissed her temple. "I promise. I don't think I've ever been this happy before. And I've had a lot of sex."

She snorted, shoving him lightly. "Don't ruin the moment."

He smiled. "Oh c'mon you know I couldn't if I tried."

* * *

 Damon didn't really like cigars or any type of smoking but when Enzo offered him an expensive Cuban he took it. Sitting in the Salvatore living room with Alaric and Stefan as well, he vaguely listened as they rambled on about nothing in particular. Bonnie and Caroline were off doing something or other and he had no idea where the Gilberts were though he knew they probably knew the news. That the baby was a boy. Just as he had predicted his friends and his brother all wanted to be godfather but he couldn't focus on that right now. He was going to be a father.

He was going to have a son.

His relationship with his father had sucked right up until the day he died and beyond if he was being honest. They never saw eye to eye on anything and it made him wonder what type of dad he would be to a little boy. He knew if they had a girl Bonnie would have it covered. Her mother might not have been around but Bonnie had amazing instincts when it came to taking care of people. She took care of all her friends on a daily basis. Plus he'd always heard girls were easier and smarter.

On the other hand though there was a tiny bit of old world in him that puffed up at the thought of a boy. An heir to his kingdom as it were. It was probably the only thing his father would have approved of.

 _Well at least I have a room full of jokers to help me_.

 _In theory_.

There were things Damon hadn't let himself think about concerning his kid and now they were simmering just below the surface of his thoughts. Number one being how he would live forever and it seemed more probable that the kid…wouldn't. That Bonnie wouldn't either but he wasn't prepared to go there yet. He didn't think he could watch them both grow old and die however. He didn't think he could be caught up in that cycle of grandchildren and great grandchild doing the same thing; his whole extended family leaving him behind to always be the last man standing. Sure he would still have Stefan but it would be different and  _feel_  different.

And where would he go if he eventually met the wrong end of a stake anyway? The Other side was gone—where did any of them go now when they died?

 _I should really see if Alaric has made any headway on this_.

Blowing out a puff of smoke, he looked to his friends and smirked, clearing his throat to get their attention. "I believe the subject of godfather is on the table?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

_As Bonnie ran into the kitchen of the home she shared with Damon, she was laughing so hard that she could hardly catch her breath. Her cheeks were flushed, the tip of her nose red and cold to the touch. There were flakes of snow in her hair and eyelashes as well as ice down the front of her shirt, which had her shivering and squirming trying to dislodge it. She was on the verge of coughing when a bottle of water appeared before her face, and even though she was faux glaring she took it and swallowed gratefully._

_When it didn't feel like her heart would explode out of her chest anymore, she went about taking off her winter clothes. "I hate you."_

_Damon smirked and leaned against the counter. "You love me. I basically saved your life out there."_

_She snorted. "You pushed me into a snow bank and packed snow down my shirt! What if I catch a cold?"_

_He waved a hand. "You're already dead. What's the worst that could happen?" She flipped him off playfully and he laughed, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the living room. "Sit and get warm then."_

_Shivering, she kicked off her boots and did as he asked, pulling a couch pillow into her lap. The fire was roaring and hot, the flames dancing happily before her eyes. "Geeze. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard."_

_Draping a blanket over her shoulders, Damon then added more wood to the fire. "Oh? And here I thought your first time with baby Gilbert would have been hilarious."_

_Bonnie slapped at him but hit air. "Seeing you face plant into a snowman was pretty_  hilarious.  _I thought vampires had super seeing and yet you didn't see that in front of you."_

_He grunted and flopped down beside her, pulling her cold feet into his lap. "Actually I meant to run into it because when you weren't looking, it came onto me. And not like a gentlemen either—that I would have been okay with."_

_"Oh shut up!" She giggled. "Thanks…for today. For…ya know…"_

_"No problem." Squeezing her ankle, he met her gaze for a moment before pouting. "Why is the hot chocolate_  all  _the way in the kitchen? Ugh okay, I'm going in and when I get back we'll warm up those toes."_

_Bonnie smiled and watched him go, biting her lip to keep her smile from getting out of control. But that was impossible because lately all she tended to do was smile where Damon was concerned. Whether because he was being so incredibly nice she could hardly believe it, or because their back and forth snarking was just downright amusing. It was weird but their lives were more normal now as dead people than when they were alive._

_After a while things like days and months stopped mattering to Bonnie and it was only something she kept up with because it seemed the normal thing to do. But unlike when she'd first arrived to this new world—whatever it was—she didn't stare longingly at the calendar and wonder how her friends in Mystic Falls were doing. Wonder if Jeremy was taking care of himself or how college life was going for Elena and Caroline. She still hoped they were okay of course and moving on, but bit by bit things had changed and she was happy. It was like paradise was actually doing what it was supposed to be doing and giving her what she wanted._

_Well not everything she wanted because her dad and Grams weren't there but dwelling on that would just be nit picking._

_Technically though time had continued to tick on while they weren't paying attention and they were coming up on almost two years. Sixteen months of just her and Damon getting to know each other better and becoming_  friends. Good friends  _actually. It wasn't even weird to think and while once upon a time he'd done horrible things to her, she felt that he'd honestly repented for them where she was concerned. That he was honestly sorry._

_He proved it by taking such good care of her._

_When it was supposedly the holidays she got a little down because she was used to doing things with her family. So Damon helped take her mind off stuff by attempting to give her a little taste of home. They got a Christmas tree and even had a turkey for Thanksgiving. Damon was a great cook—he made amazing pancakes—and if she whined enough he always broke down and made dinner. Though sometimes she tried her hand in the kitchen too just for something to do. Anyway the point was they'd made a real life for themselves on this other_  other  _side and it was a place she could honestly say was her home._

 _Running a hand through her short bouncing bob, she shook out flecks of ice and reluctantly got up, stripping off the long sleeved white shirt she wore and laying it down in front of the fire to dry_.  _Spying Damon's orange t-shirt from the previous night that he'd left out for one reason or another, she pulled it on without a second thought and sat back down._

_"Tomorrow we should go to the lake and see if it's frozen over." She directed her voice towards the kitchen._

_"You wanna go ice fishing?" Damon teased._

_"No but I might make a hole and push you through it." She said with a grin. "We could ice skate. I haven't been since I was a little girl but I used to be pretty good."_

_"Or…" Making his way out of the kitchen with two mugs of hot chocolate, he gave her one. "We could stay inside where it's warm and be bums. I could regale you with more tales of my youth and travels."_

_Shaking her head, Bonnie carefully sipped her beverage. "Fine, but I don't want any gory details this time."_

_The vampire hummed thoughtfully. "Does that mean no stories about murder or no stories about all the hot sex I have had?"_

_She felt her face heat up, which was a new thing where Damon was concerned. In the past she'd always knew in the back of her mind that Damon was attractive but it wasn't something she focused on because his horrible qualities outweighed his looks. It wasn't until recently that she was hit with_  wow this guy is sexy _during such a simple yet dumb kinda moment. He'd been going on about something or other that happened in Paris before reaching over to slip an apple slice into his mouth. His lips closed around it and…it was like noticing him for the first time._

_Thankfully however he had not picked up on anything different and continued bullshitting._

_Getting thrown into this situation with Damon had been hard at first but thankfully they'd managed to find a very nice balance. Suddenly thinking he was_  sexy— _which hot would have been bad enough—was a complicated mess of things she didn't need. It didn't mean anything but it was still messy as hell. Damon was the only friend she had in this weird world and she didn't want to scare him off._

_Realizing she hadn't answered his question, she chanced a glance at him. His bright blue eyes were laser focused on her but his expression was carefully blank. "What?"_

_He tilted his head to the side. "You're wearing my shirt."_

_She blinked. "Oh, yeah. Mine is wet and I didn't feel like going upstairs to get one. Is it not okay?"_

_He shrugged. "No it's fine; wear any of mine you want. It looks good on you."_

_Bonnie chuckled. "Thanks. Maybe next time you could say it and not sound like a serial killer."_

_Damon's brows lifted in amusement. "Okay. Bonnie, you look good in my clothes."_

_Taking another sip of her hot chocolate, she curled her legs up onto the couch. "Is this the part where you add that I'd look even better_  out  _of them?"_

_It was a joke, naturally and Damon snickered but he surprisingly didn't go for the gold as it were. "I figured that was a given considering…"_

Okay this is tripping into unknown territory.  _"So, dinner. I was thinking fried chicken. Something easy and simple."_

_The tiny spark of mischief in Damon's eyes flared. "I can do that. Heh it's like we're married. Talking about dinner and nakedness but with no actual nakedness."_

_"We went skinny dipping."_

_"Yeah but that was ages ago. And it's not like I saw anything."_

_"Well if you're…feeling randy I'm sure you could find someone here to help with that. Not like you don't notice the few young ladies here looking at you."_

_"I do. But you don't_  really  _expect me to cheat on my wife, do you? What kinda man do you think I am, Bonnie?"_

_She laughed. "A dope." Getting up she strolled into the kitchen and placed her cup on the counter. "I thought you hated it when Brett calls us the Salvatores?"_

_Damon, who had followed her, made a face. "Well yeah I hate when that asshole does it, but not in general. For perspective I hate when he opens his mouth at all."_

_They didn't see many people when they were out and about, mostly because Damon tended to be his usual self and it was an acquired taste not many people could take. There would be friendly nods and waves but no one ever really stopped for a conversation. Brett however seemed to take great pleasure in annoying them—especially Damon—by slinging barbs and constantly asking her out. He was the last sort of person she could ever see herself spending eternity with. She tried to be civil because it appeared to be the right thing to do, but Damon never held back. More than once he and Brett had almost come to blows._

_A werewolf's bite was basically a death sentence to any vampire not an Original, but since they were all dead she figured Damon was safe. Still she did her best to keep them from getting into anything too heavy._

_To be honest Bonnie didn't really understand Brett's fascination with her. Well beyond using it to annoy Damon of course. It was just weird their sudden rivalry and how often she was caught in the middle. But it also made sense because beyond Tyler, she couldn't think of another werewolf that hadn't wanted to kill a vampire on principle._

_However there was also the chance that Brett was just a jerk._

_"He likes to get a rise out of you." She said sitting on a stool at the island. "You shouldn't let him."_

_Damon opened the cabinets and took out several bowls. "When have_  ever  _been able to practice restraint? He wants me to punch him in the face so bad; I have to give the man what he wants."_

_She smiled despite herself. "Only you could find an enemy in paradise." Rolling her eyes at his big proud smile, she motioned to the kitchen door. "I'm gonna get some more wood for the fire. You, cook."_

_He saluted her. "Whatever you want, Mrs. Salvatore."_

_Joking around with Damon came easily now but it would probably always be strange to find herself in a sort of domestic bliss with him. And it was domestic. They behaved much like a married couple—there was even affection but not overtly so. As in it wasn't dwelled on or talked about. It was normal for him to pull her feet into his lap if they were sitting on the couch or lean in close to whisper something in her ear while she was reading the paper. In the past—back in Mystic Falls—she would have recoiled or asked about his motives but that wasn't the case anymore._

_Damon's only motive was to be…_ Damon.

_Bonnie opened the back door and shuddered as the cold air immediately started seeping into her bones. Her socks were going to get wet but she didn't care; she'd hang them on the mantle over the fire and let them dry. Tip toeing outside onto the back porch she pulled a blanket off the big cardboard box where they kept their firewood—so it would stay dry—and took out a few pieces. She was just re-covering the box when a twig snapped off to the side. She looked up and went still._

_A dark form stood motionless at the tree line apparently watching her. It wasn't much of a hiding spot since only a few trees dotted the property line, separating their house and the next one as some sort of privacy barrier. They were in a black hoodie as far as she could tell and male by the broadness of their shoulders_.

Not Brett  _her mind supplied. He wasn't the slinking around type. He liked to be in your face so that he could see your irritated reaction. That meant it was a stranger and the knowledge of that fact made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She didn't feel in danger per se but alarmed because normal people didn't hide in the bushes outside of other people's houses._

_Very slowly she put the wood down and backed towards the open door. She opened her mouth to call for Damon when the figure suddenly rushed at her, its fingertips brushing her shoulders just as she all but threw herself into the kitchen. She landed hard on the floor, glancing up to see Damon staring at her in confusion right before something latched onto her ankles and yanked her back outside. She was pulled screaming into the freezing snow, her fingers struggling to grab onto anything they could._

_"What the fuck?!" Damon shouted sprinting out behind her. She heard a grunt and just like that she was free to scramble to her feet. Which was good since Damon immediately shoved her behind him. "Are you okay?"_

_She nodded even though she was trembling. "I—I think so. What happened?"_

_"Let's ask this fuck head." Damon kicked at the man lying on the ground with a large jagged piece of wood sticking out of his leg so that he couldn't move. "Hey asshole, what in the hell did you think you were doing?"_

_Pushing his hoodie off his head, seemingly not in any real pain, the newcomer frowned. "This doesn't concern you asshole. I just wanna talk to the Bennett witch."_

_Damon arched a brow. "So you_  drag  _her out of our home? Not very smart, are you? Who the fuck are you anyway?"_

_The stranger huffed. "My name is Nathaniel. I died trying to help my coven get Silas out of this one's head."_

_Bonnie didn't remember any of that. "What are you talking about?"_

_Nathaniel eyed her. "It doesn't matter now. The only thing I care about is getting back to the land of the living."_

_She sighed. "What does that have to do with me? I'm not the anchor anymore. Honestly I don't know what I am."_

_He sat up, hand inching towards the stick protruding from his leg. "You're my ticket out of here."_

_That made Damon twitch and he bent down to be eye level with him. "Explain. Or I will rip off your legs and use them as kindling. "_

_Nathaniel wet his lips. "There is a rumor going around that the anchor is the one that can pop us back into the real world. She did used to straddle the line between both sides." Pause. "So I wanted to talk to her to see if it was true."_

_"It's not." Bonnie replied softly. "Don't you think if I knew how to get back I would have done it already? I'm just as stuck as everyone else."_

_Ripping himself free with a wince, Nathaniel stumbled back and stood. "The library here has occult books, funny enough. I think if we went through some we could figure it out." He held out his hand. "If you'd just come with me—"_

_Damon slapped his hand down so hard he nearly tipped over. "Okay this is how this is going to go. You come near Bonnie again and I'll kill you. And if I can't kill you then I'll just rip out your eyes so that you can't find us."_

_Nathaniel's brows narrowed. "You're not her keeper. Hell you're not even her friend if I remember correctly."_

_Damon smirked. "Haven't you heard? I'm her husband. Now get the fuck out of my yard." Without waiting for a reply, he wrapped an arm around Bonnie's waist and ushered her back inside, slamming the door closed behind them. "Fuck. Are you sure you are okay? Here let me look at you."_

_Bonnie yelped as Damon lifted her and sat her on the counter, his hands removing her socks and feeling her ankles. "I'm fine. Still kinda freaked out but I'm fine."_

_The vampire was obviously angry. "I can't believe he thought that was a good idea. I should have punched his tongue down his throat."_

_She rubbed her upper arms to get warm. "I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't saying. What if he comes back? What if he knows a way to get home and it involves a piece of me?"_

_Damon's eyes lifted to her face and before she could react, he was cupping her face with his cool hands. "Hey. You don't have anything to worry about, alright? We are in this together and I am not going to let anything happen to you. Consider it pay back for saving my ass or whatever so many times."_

_Touched, she ducked her head. "Thanks…"_

_"Yeah well…" He smiled, his thumbs brushing smoothly across her skin. "I'd be lost without you. I can admit it without feeling totally emasculated."_

_She grasped his wrists and stared into his icy eyes as if seeing him for the first time. Really seeing him. It was a little frightening to be honest. Though it didn't stop her from kissing him on the cheek; it just seemed like the right thing to do. "I…would be lost without you too."_

_Damon smiled even as tiny lines appeared in his forehead. They didn't look angry though just confused and unsurprisingly she could relate. "Okay. Enough excitement for one night. Maybe now I can actually fix us something to eat. You should stick close though just in case. And put on some slippers."_

_Snickering, Bonnie patted his shoulders. "Yes sir." Instead of going to get new socks, she pulled her legs up, content to watch Damon cook._

_They lapsed into a light conversation about nothing important until dinner was finished cooking and then they ate, smiling at each other from across the table._

_Bonnie went to bed feeling an odd tingle in the pit of her stomach, something that she didn't want to focus on. Instead she stared at the ceiling and listened to the wind gently howl outside until her eyelids were too heavy to stay open. She hadn't had any sort of nightmare or bad dream since arriving to this different world, but that night phantom hands reached for her out of the darkness and she found she was powerless to stop them from taking her. From using her at their behest, manipulating her like Silas had until she was so screwed up she didn't know what was real anymore._

_Not until the shriek that escaped her throat jerked her straight up in bed._

_The overhead light popped on and illuminated Damon standing in the door in nothing but a pair of jeans. "What happened? Did someone try to come through the window?"_

_She managed a chuckle. "No I—just some stupid nightmare. No doubt brought on by that asshole though." She cringed. "I'm sorry if I woke you up."_

_He shook his head. "No big deal. I wasn't having a particularly good dream either. That idiot rattled us both it seems which means I'm gonna have to crack his skull in."_

_"That is your go to, isn't it?"_

_"Oh yeah. That or I rip their heart out. But I thought I would try something new."_

_Bonnie grinned. "Well thanks for checking on me. I'm still here."_

_Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, he flicked the off switch and walked around to the left side of her bed. "Just to be on the safe side I should probably bunk with you. For tonight. Don't worry I will keep my sexy hands to myself."_

_Blinking in surprise, she snuggled down under the covers and watched him do the same. "Alright. If—if you want."_

_He shrugged. "Why not? Besides we've both known we were gonna fall into bed together eventually."_

_That made her snort and turn her back to him. "Goodnight Damon."_

_She could hear the grin in his voice as he said, "Goodnight, judgy_."

* * *

 

The baby book of bouncing boy names that Caroline had given Bonnie was as thick as a dictionary and bright blue with dancing pandas on the front. Several pages already had colorful tags with names highlighted in yellow; most of which were ones Caroline herself loved.  _Benjamin_ ,  _Theodore_ ,  _Christian_ ,  _David_ …the list went on and on. And then of course there were the weird ones that brought into question whether parents wanted their children to get beat up or not every day.

Damon had expressed interest in Italian names and Bonnie was fine with that. She was partial to Sebastiano because of how nicely it rolled off her tongue. Little baby Sebastiano. It was basically  _Sebastian_  but in Latin it meant revered and she liked that.

Sitting with her back against a large tree in the midst of the campgrounds, Bonnie wiggled her legs on the fleece blanket she sat on and reached for another handful of Peanut M&Ms. She wouldn't say she was craving them but they tasted better than they had in years, sort of like the dill pickles she'd had earlier. Her real craving food however had to be pineapple pizza with a side of pepperonis just to munch on.

God it was  _so_  good.

Humming, she turned another page and snorted at the highlighted  _Caro_  when a body appeared out of the woods, making her flash back to a memory that seemed so long ago now. However it was just Elena in shorts and a flowy top, looking slightly contrite as she made her way closer. Bonnie dog eared her page and closed the book, setting it aside.

"Hey. Um, Damon said you were out here. I hope you don't mind that I found you."

Bonnie offered up a tentative smile. "No I don't mind. Join me."

Elena sat on the edge of the blanket. "How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad." Bonnie admitted. "You?"

Elena wet her lips. "I'm—okay honestly I'm still having a hard time with all of this but I realize I've been sort of stupid about it too. You're my best friend and believe me Bonnie, I  _want_  to share in this with you. It's just…it's hard. I'm being a bitch and I know I am."

 _Well_ … "I do understand your side you know. I had a front row seat to what you and Damon had. I  _saw_  you right after he died and heard what you said to him. What he said to you. So I totally get that you're hurt and confused."

The brunette pulled her knees up to her chest. "I know you do. It's been months and yet it still feels like yesterday you guys died. I didn't cope very well, obviously." Chuckling wryly, she fiddled with a dry leaf. "But you know I didn't just lose Damon I lost you too, and it sucks that I feel so screwed up because you're alive and I just wanna spend time with you. I want to do baby things with you like Caroline is doing."

Bonnie reached over and gave her wrist a squeeze. "It's gonna take time for you to be okay. No one is disputing that."

Elena took the chance of slipping closer until they were side by side. "But every minute I waste feeling betrayed and left behind is a minute I could be spending celebrating the new life my best friend is creating." She swallowed hard. "I don't wanna wig you out but Damon and I—what we had—it was everything to me. Getting to be with him and how he made me feel; it's not something that you can just get over. It's so different from what I had with Stefan."

Bonnie didn't reply so her friend continued, "Seeing you two together it makes me feel like I can't breathe. Like the walls are closing in on me, like my heart is in a vice and someone is squeezing it for everything it's worth. And I hate it. So…I thought of a solution."

"What's that?" Bonnie inquired.

"You're a witch again, right?" Elena asked and Bonnie nodded. "I want you to take my memories of my relationship with Damon. Make it so we were never together. You can do it right?"

"I…" Trailing off, Bonnie looked at her. "Yeah I—are you sure that is what you want? He would still remember."

"I know and that's okay. He let me go a long time ago and…now it's time for me to do the same." Elena exhaled. "I need to heal Bonnie and I'll never be able to do that with how things are now. It could take  _years_  or not at all, meanwhile I'll be missing out on so much. I think it's the right thing to do and not just for myself but for everyone."

 _That would make things easier, no doubt_. "What about Jeremy?"

"I'll tell him—I'll tell everyone to keep their mouths shut. He's hurting too and I doubt he'll ask you to remove his memories but he'll be quiet if I ask him to." A beat. "You'll just have to deal with his side of things."

 _I can do that_. "Elena if this is what you honestly want I'll do it, but I want you to be sure. I want to make sure Damon and I didn't push you into this. Your relationship with him was precious and you shouldn't have to give it up."

Elena's grin was soft and knowing. "Deep down I will treasure the time I spent with Damon. I'm not asking for this because I want it but because I realize it's necessary. You have sacrificed everything for me without batting an eyelash. It's time I returned the favor so that we can go back to being like sisters. I can give up this one thing for you when you've given up  _so_   _much_  for me."

It was one of the most selfless things she had heard Elena say in a long time. "Okay," she whispered. "Do you uh, do you know how far back you want to go?"

Elena pulled her dark hair over her shoulder and played with the ends. "The night of my birthday party, when you were off visiting family. Do you remember? Klaus and Stefan were off hunting people and Damon was supposed to be helping me find him. I think that was really the beginning of—of when I started to look at him differently." She blushed. "I was thinking maybe you could write a spell to change my memories? Make some of the good ones not so good. I don't want to hate him but I want my feelings erased."

Bonnie could totally do that. "I can do that."

Blinking her wet lashes, the brunette hugged her pregnant friend. It was the most contact they'd had since Bonnie and Damon had returned to Mystic Falls. "I love you Bonnie Bennett. You're my favorite."

Bonnie laughed lightly. "I love you too, Elena."

* * *

 

The Salvatore attic was filled to the brim with crap they had collected over the years from clothes to books. It was possible they were hoarders and unfortunately none of their baby stuff had survived the years, much to Damon's annoyance. While he wanted his son to have the best of everything, a tiny sentimental part had wanted to spiff up his old bassinet. Maybe. All he could find however were his old toys carved out of wood and the odd bronze shoe. So apparently he would be giving his kid this old wooden horse he'd been very fond of as a child.

After it was cleaned up of course.

In truth Damon would have been happy with either but a boy was a big deal in his day. His father had been proud to sire two boys until they started thinking for themselves and doing whatever they wanted to do. Well until  _he_  started doing that since Stefan was the dutiful son right up until the end. Anyway there would be a boy looking to him and the other males around him for guidance. Damon was about to be responsible for shaping a brand spanking new life and it kinda terrified him.

What if his son hated him because of all the people he'd killed?

What if his son hated him because of the fucked up shit he'd done to his mother once upon a time?

What if he wasn't a good enough father?

What if he couldn't protect him? What if Klaus decided to come back to town and try to hurt it just for kicks? What if it wanted blood? What if it could turn off its humanity? How the hell was  _he_  of all people supposed to discipline someone when he spent most of his life bucking authority because he could?

 _Thank god you've got a moral compass in Bonnie_.

He would do better though. He would honestly try not to be an asshole and teach his son right from wrong. When he was an adult, well, then he could pull a  _Damon_  and do what he wanted. Though knowing his luck he was going to have a little male Bennett warlock that side eyed him and judged him with his eyebrows.

He couldn't wait.

The stairs creaked and Damon paused in the opening of another box. He wasn't expecting Elena to make her way into the room but then she had asked after Bonnie earlier. He supposed they'd had a nice chat since the brunette didn't look any worse for wear. "If you're here to ask for help hiding the body, you'll be sorely disappointed. Also dead."

Elena scowled at him but it lacked any heat. "Not funny you know I would never hurt Bonnie. Not with my humanity turned on anyway. We…had a very honest chat and I feel better."

Damon hummed. "Good. I'm glad. It was rough seeing you two at odds."

Elena folded her arms over her chest. "I asked her to remove the memories of our relationship. It's the only way any of us will be able to move on. Completely."

A part of him was stung. Yes he had Bonnie and yes he loved her but to hear Elena wanted to erase him from her mind hurt no matter how it was dressed up. Because at the time he'd  _loved_  Elena. Desperately and while he didn't anymore that relationship had helped shape the man he was today. For better or for worse. "That's drastic isn't it?"

She nodded. "Yes but it's the best solution I can come up with that doesn't involve leaving town until I feel better. Which could take years. It's the coward's way out and I wish I didn't have to do it, but I don't see any other way to coexist with you guys. Every time I look at you right now I wonder why you're not kissing me, and a part of me hates it because Bonnie is my best friend and I love her. But we were supposed to be forever, Damon, and I don't think I can function knowing we're not anymore. It'll keep me from being able to enjoy anything dealing with my new nephew…"

 _Fuck_. "Wow."

"Yeah." She whispered. "It doesn't mean I don't love you because I do. So much. But that's kinda the problem. I still love you like it was yesterday but you stopped being in love with me years ago. This way I—I get to catch up. And we can all be how we were but we'll be friends."

Talking her out of it wouldn't do any good so he just chewed on the inside of his cheek. She had some good points and if this fixed the entire situation, he could be okay with it. Besides she was right, he loved her but he wasn't in love with her anymore and hadn't been for quite a while. "So, you'll think I'm just the dashing guy who knocked your friend up?"

Elena snickered. "No. I'll still know you but it'll be like we never dated. My mind will automatically fill in the blanks with other stuff. Hopefully everyone agrees to just go along with it."

 _I wonder could we also get little Gilbert to go through this mind meld. I'm not against holding him down and forcing it on him_. "Sounds interesting. Okay if it's what you really want…"

She crossed to him and kissed his cheek. "You made me so happy. Giving you up is—god it's not easy. It's like you're dying all over again and I wish it didn't have to be this way." She caressed his face, dragged her small fingers along his jaw. "You made me so ridiculously happy. Now do the same for Bonnie."

And just like that she was hurrying out of the room, all but running down the attic stairs.

Damon watched her go and then turned back to his boxes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it! :)

Chapter Six

Damon wasn't surprised to see Bonnie curled up on the couch asleep when he entered her house—their house?— after a day of just goofing off with Alaric while secretly trying to get him laid. Out of all of his friends he needed it the most since he'd been dead the longest and all. But so yeah he wasn't surprised to see Bonnie completely zonked out and looking adorable since she'd been gone since that morning to hang out with Elena. A newly brainwashed Elena if he had anything to say about it. Sure she was now happy for them and giving him lectures about not hurting her friend because she didn't remember dating him, but it was still weird. As far as she was concerned he was now just the guy that broke her brother's neck once upon a time. Someone she tolerated for Bonnie and Stefan's sake.

He could deal with it of course and it   _did_  make things easier, but fuck was it odd. She was the only one who didn't know the truth and everyone just sort of…pretended for her sake. Which was nice of them but he couldn't help but wonder just what memories she now had of him? Bonnie said they weren't good ones but she wasn't sure on them exactly. That Elena's mind had filled in the blanks on its own. It was just an adjustment really but he was rolling with it. Not having her making eyes at him was not something he would miss. The only person who thought it was a   _horrible_  idea was Jeremy, because  _of course_  he would be that guy. Major buzz kill.

Throwing his house keys onto the table by the door, he shrugged out of his leather jacket and dropped it into a chair. Very gently he scooped Bonnie up into his arms and carried her upstairs to bed, stretching her out just as delicately. She sighed softly but didn't wake up, instead pressing her face into the fluffy pillow. Damon smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed, smoothing a hand over her bump. It was amazing how having something living in there could suddenly make a person all about stomachs.

"So…" He said shifting down slowly to rest his head on Bonnie's chest. "Today was an uneventful day in which your Uncle Ric continued to be less than suave with the ladies. I'm thinking about writing him a book so that he doesn't live alone forever. I mean imagine if it's just him and Enzo for all eternity. Hm, what else? Oh your Aunty Elena is a suitable head of cabbage when it comes to our relationship. She doesn't remember loving me and I'm cool with it. Mostly. It's all ego that isn't."

Smirking, he listened to the sound of Bonnie's heartbeat strong in his ear. "But hey if it makes things easier for your mom then I'm all for it. We've all done worse than erased memories. Uncle Stefan restored my car while he thought I was dead so he is now your official godfather. But don't tell Enzo—I wanna see what gift he tries to bribe me with." Pause. "Man little guy, you're gonna be born into a crazy world. Half of your extended family is dead and the other half is unemployed. There is a lot of 'em though heh. Lots of people waiting to meet you. Waiting to teach you stuff and pass along bad habits…but in a good way."

"You're the  _most_  popular kid ever." He continued softly. "I don't know what I did to get you—I know what I've done to not deserve you—but life is funny that way I guess. I always knew I was being an asshole when I would turn off my humanity or freak out because Elena dared to break up with me. I hurt a lot of people because I could. Because their pain made me feel better. Now…thinking about someone doing that to you scares the fuck out of me and makes me so angry. How do I keep you safe?"

There was no real answer of course. Safety was more an ideal than an actual occurrence because if something supernatural didn't take you out, a bus going too fast could. Knowing he couldn't protect his child from everything was worse than the aneurysm Bonnie used to break out on his ass. Hurt more too. But all of that aside it didn't mean he was going to stop trying. Fuck no. He'd made a baby in a mystical other realm and came back from the dead. Hell yeah he was going to keep his son safe.

Damon gave Bonnie's bellybutton a poke and then watched her serene expression for a few minutes. Sometimes it felt like they had moved mountains to get where they were. And when he thought back on those times, it was almost like seeing it through someone else's eyes. Like watching a movie or something…

_With Nathaniel still out in the general area probably being a creepy stalker, Damon took it upon himself to be Bonnie's bodyguard. She could take care of herself but he didn't trust assholes like Nathaniel and having extra back up was never a bad thing. It brought back memories of him with other Bennett witches that considered him their protector. Most hadn't been able to stand him but usually looked past that to trust him, even a little bit. For all of his obsession with Katherine and then Elena, the only other constant in his life had been a Bennett witch. He could remember running into one no matter the decade or the city. They'd spread out like water and became distant relatives of their original line, but he could usually spot one a mile away. It was just a feeling really._

_In a way he'd done just as much good for them as bad. Emily was probably shaking her head something serious. Especially if she had been somehow watching the events that unfolded a few nights ago. In his defense, well, he couldn't think of one right off the bat but he was_   sure  _there was one!_

 _He and Bonnie were closer; they were actual friends. Getting stuck with her or finding peace with her was really the best thing that could have ever happened to him, considering what he later learned happened to Katherine's spirit. They were on equal footing in their Pleasantville world and after so much time it was now normal. He_    liked  _spending time with Bonnie and he felt secure saying she enjoyed spending time with him as well._

_Still the kiss had been…surprising._

_Even on good terms they bickered because it was apparently their thing. Except these days it was about stupid little shit like who ate the last cupcake or whose turn it was to do laundry. There was no malice behind their words; most times she was smiling while giving him a hard time. They talked a lot about all manner of things, Mystic Falls and that ball of crazy notwithstanding. It just...it seemed like another life and therefore not something to dwell on._

_Bonnie firmly believed they could have a normal eternity in their new surroundings but better because there was nothing out there waiting to hurt them. Nathaniel was a weirdo and dog boy was an asshole but they didn't exactly seem dangerous. He still wanted to try and see if he could kill one but there was plenty of time for that._

_But they had been sitting in front of their couch with the fire place roaring in front of them, sipping from a bottle of wine. She wasn't really a wine drinker but figured what the hell? If she couldn't be daring while dead then when could she be daring? And he'd watched the flames play across her gorgeous face and though_   wow, I can't believe I get to be here with her.  _Shocked him but made so much sense because Bonnie had saved him time and time again, even when she was pissed off at him. He'd always knew she was amazing—though he'd never admitted it out loud—but watching her then had drawn all of the air out of his lungs. He'd felt happy and peaceful and he'd just wanted to have every bit of her attention that he could._

 _So he had kissed her. He could admit it wasn't well thought out but he'd never say it didn't make sense because it made_ perfect  _sense. Started years before she was even a twinkle in someone's eye, looping through time and space and keeping him anchored to the Bennett line no matter what else happened. Katherine and to a certain extent Elena were chosen for him by forces he couldn't control—compulsion and then the need to covet what Stefan had—but Bonnie was his choice. He chose to continue playing guardian._

_He chose to not leave Silas' fucked up island without her._

_He chose to move Heaven and Hell to bring her back to life the first time._

_He chose to put his life in her hands knowing she could snuff it out but feeling deep down she never would._

_He…_  chose  _to kiss her._

_In retrospect he could have been smoother about it. She'd sort of freaked out and accused him of using her because she was convenient, saying that she wasn't going to be a replacement for anyone. Of course it wasn't about that at all but he understood her train of thought. Might would have thought it himself had the tables been turned. Needless to say it had ruined their mellow wine drinking and now things were weird._

_Tense._

_Three days later and they were tense._

_Sitting on a stool at the island in the kitchen, he stared at her as she fixed herself something for breakfast. She was wearing a low cut white dress with a simple sweater—he'd seen her in it quite a few times—but damn did she look adorable. She was also taking huge measures_   not  _to look at him but they both knew that couldn't last for much longer. Neither could the clipped words that kept their usual long conversations to a minimum. As it were he was attempting to not be an impatient jackass and force the issue of them interacting like adults. But that didn't mean he wasn't playing a game._

 _They would have to talk about the kiss, they just would. In order to help the process he'd forgone shaving for a couple of days so that his scruff would make it seem he was all consumed by his thoughts. And because he was_  pretty sure  _she thought he was even sexier with a little facial hair. Just a throwaway comment he'd remembered from a while ago when he'd ran out of razors. He was in a flannel shirt with the first series of buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Unless his reflection was lying to him he looked pretty damn good._

_Okay. "So are you just going to ignore me for all eternity now?"_

_Her back tensed for a moment. "No. Just until pod Damon leaves and the real Damon comes back."_

_He grinned. "You think I'm not the real Damon because I kissed you? I mean I could see how it would make sense had we not been on our own here for like two years. Almost three. At this point you know me probably just as well as Stefan does."_

_She shrugged. "I know you wouldn't kiss me."_

_Damon sighed and stood, making his way around the island so that he was closer to her. "Old me wouldn't have kissed you. Actually old me would have kissed you because old me kissed Caroline and flirted with her mother when she was like a toddler, but old me wouldn't have_ meant  _it. It would have just been something to do."_

 _Very slowly Bonnie turned to face him and damn, he was floored by how hot she was. "What did it mean then, Damon?" she asked. "Cause we've been doing so well here, ya know? We're friends and we enjoy each others' company. I have no issues spending the rest of our immortal or whatever lives together. So I'm just a little curious as to why you wanna be an asshole_  now."

Alright I guess I deserved that.  _"I'm not being an asshole. I kissed you because not kissing you would have been the dumbest decision I've ever made and I have made some dumb ones. Extremely dumb." She rolled her big pretty eyes and he grabbed her arm as she went to turn away. "You really don't see it, do you?"_

_She swallowed hard. "See what?"_

_He took the fork out of her hand. "How beautiful you are. Why guys would be throwing themselves at you—why Brett the dog faced boy wants in your pants so bad. You are every bit as gorgeous as Elena or Caroline. More, really." A beat. "Jeremy was a stupid idiot for that whole Anna deal and Jamie was a jerk to just walk away from you. They don't overshadow you—Elena and Caroline. People just have screwed priorities."_

_Damon could tell he hit a nerve; her nostrils flared and she avoided his gaze. "There is no one else and now you're—"_

_He shook his head. "No. There are others here and you know it. I don't want them. I want you."_

_Wrenching her arm loose, she glared at him. "Bullshit. Since when? You've been pining for Elena for so long… And before that it was Katherine for like a century. Do you really expect me to believe after almost three years suddenly_ I'm  _the one that you want? I thought you were done being cruel, Damon."_

 _"I'm not being cruel! Look okay everything you said is true. I chased behind Elena and Katherine for longer than I'm proud of and honestly, I have no real idea why. I thought they both loved me but Katherine was playing me the entire time and while I do think Elena loved me, our love was shit. It was toxic and brought out the_ absolute  _worst in both of us. The only time I've been at my best is when I'm with you."_

_"Damon—"_

_"Tell me you haven't felt it too. Tell me these past couple of days haven't been_   agony  _for you because of how bad you wanna touch me. Be close to me. That you haven't wanted to sneak into my room late at night and crawl into bed with me."_

_"…"_

_"That's how I've felt. If anything is being cruel it's the fact that I haven't been able to have you like I want you. That I had to force myself not to stand too close to you when all I wanted to do was press against you and feel how warm you are. Smell your shampoo and see the hazel flecks of gold in your eyes. And I could have. I could have done it but_  didn't  _because I respect you too much…"_

_She chuckled softly. "Since when?"_

_He smiled. "I've always respected you a little bit. All your judgy little morals and shit. You were always the best of us and you know it."_

_Sighing deeply, she wet her lips. "I—I won't lie to you, I have felt what you felt. I can't understand it but since that kiss I can't think about anything else except kissing you again. And it feels wrong for some reason. I feel guilty for it."_

_Damon boxed her in against the counter. "Don't. It's been years so believe me when I say here with you is where I want to be. Do you wanna be anywhere else? Do you wanna be with Jeremy?"_

_Her voice was low as she whispered, "No. I want you too."_

_And that was all the confirmation Damon needed. He surged forward and kissed her, flicked his tongue against her lips until she relaxed and let him in. Her hand tangled in his dark hair and she kissed him back, warm and wet and perfect, molding against like she was always meant to be there. It should have been sort of chaste—he meant for it to be so as not to come on too strong—but in the end it wasn't. In the end it was heat and fire and he was lifting her off the floor and she was wrapping her legs around his lithe waist, all while making the most decadent sounds. Little gasps and whimpers that made his head spin and his body warm. They ended up upstairs in his room on his bed thanks to his super speed._

_To be honest he expected her to stop him before things went too far. Before they spiraled because she was the level-headed one and this was probably still kind of new to her. And yet she didn't. She didn't say stop or push him away; she just smiled and turned her face up for more kisses._

_And more and more._

_They had sex. They had freaking_  amazing  _damn sex where he wasn't even ashamed to admit he had a fucking Twilight moment and shredded the pillows. It was just exhilarating and different and new from what he was used to. Where Elena would challenge him for dominance, Bonnie surrendered but not in a giving up or in sort of way. It was sensual and he immediately loved it; the softness and the unguarded passion that swaddled them both. He felt appreciated in Bonnie's arms, like she thought he was something worthy or precious instead of the other way around. And he knew it was great for her—that it knocked anything Jeremy might have done out of the water. She clung to him and kissed him and pulled him in as deep as he could go while still asking for more. And he wanted nothing more than to give it to her for as long as she could stand it._

_Vampires were supposed to have heightened senses but they didn't have anything on Bonnie Bennett in the throes of ecstasy…_

The memories dissolved and Damon was dragged back to the present by the sound of his cell phone alerting to a new text message. It was a picture of someone's boobs from Enzo and while they were nice, he deleted the image and fired off something witty about going for it.

Damon was content. He was in bed with the woman he loved and the mother of his soon to be child thinking about the first time they had sex—and the    _many_  times after. What could be better than that?

 _Actual sex_. "Bonnie? Are you awake? There is something important you're needed for…"

* * *

The good booze was still at Salvatore Manor until he could liberate it so when Damon wanted a drink he headed home. He was lounging in the library with a glass of Scotch, thumbing through some random book when the front door opened and closed with a loud thud. He arched a brow as footsteps sounded and Jeremy Gilbert rounded the corner, his jaw tightening the moment he noticed Damon.

_Well this should be fun_. "Do you still actually live here? Thought you'd be staying with the quarterback or…the other one."

Jeremy frowned. "Not that it's any of your business but I'm staying with Matt. I just came back to get some more clothes. Trust me I'd rather be anywhere but here."

Damon snorted. "Well nothing is exactly  _holding_  you here. Not like someone is holding a gun to your head."

Jeremy growled. "You know I knew you were an asshole years ago with the way you used to…insert yourself into Elena's life when you weren't wanted. I don't know why it really surprised me to find out you'd made a move on Bonnie. You're a dick like that. Guess since you'd been with Elena and Caroline she was next on the list…"

Oy. "Okay so you're not the smartest tool in the shed but I thought even   _you_  would understand weird time dimensional differences. Years there, months here. Do you want me to draw it using stick figures?"

"Whatever." Jeremy waved a hand. "In a perfect world I'd beat the shit out of you, or kill you."

"Guess it's too bad you can't do either, huh?" Damon grinned at him. "Story goes you wouldn't even have killed Kol if Elena hadn't held your hand the whole time. So I'm not too worried about you hulking out."

"The  _only_  reason I wouldn't waste my time on you is because of Bonnie. I…wouldn't want to hurt her like that." Jeremy said. "Though I think she deserves more than some asshole like you. And  _her_  kid deserves a good father."

"You wanna step up then and play dad? I'd even let you because I think it would be amusing as hell." Taking another sip of his Scotch, Damon chuckled. "You know Jer if this is so horrible for you—if seeing Bonnie  _happy_  is the worst thing you could imagine—maybe you should do what Elena did. Erase your memories too so that you can stop being a selfish, immature little shit."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Yes. Yes I would. You'd be doing the world a big favor."

Giving him the finger, Jeremy continued upstairs without another word and Damon figured it was just as well. He and baby Gilbert were never going to see eye to eye on the situation. With a little luck one day he'd meet a new girl and stop moping around like he had herpes or something. In fact perhaps getting Alaric to introduce him to some people wouldn't be a bad idea.

_Too bad I can't compel him to go on a road trip for a few years._

* * *

"What are you doing?"

Bonnie laughed at the look on Damon's face as he entered the living room, alcohol decanter in his hand. "I found a new use for this thing." She grinned and pointed to the bowl of bowtie pasta sitting on the hump of her stomach. "Long as I don't spill any I'm okay."

Damon huffed out a chuckle. "Damn I love you."

Her eyes softened. "I love you too."

He was careful not to jostle her as he sat down. "So, hypothetically, could you erase yourself from Jeremy's memory without him knowing?"

She arched a brow. "Probably…but that would be wrong."

Damon pouted. "I know I'm just saying. It would make him more tolerable. I'm not convinced he's not waiting for you to come back to him. With _my_  baby in tow."

 _That would just be insane._  "No. I think we should just let him get through this at his own pace. Eventually he'll be okay. Not everyone is into the instant fix like Elena."

Even though things were actually better now that she didn't remember loving Damon. She was shocked that Bonnie had stopped hating him to the point of sleeping with him, but she was also happy for her friend. Bonnie would never say it out loud but loving Damon had made Elena very selfish for some reason. She turned into the girl who only cared about her boyfriend and excused whatever bad he did no matter what it was. Whereas her and Stefan actually seemed to have fun together, from what Bonnie saw mostly Damon and Elena talked about how horrible they were for each other before falling into bed together. It was almost like vampire Elena thought she should love Damon so she did.

Memories erased Elena was all about baby Salvatore and being best friends with Stefan. It was strange to know the truth and see her completely blank on it however. Strange but not something Bonnie planned to break anytime soon. At least this way everyone—mostly—was happy and getting along.

 _If only things could stay like this forever_. She thought idly as Damon rested his head to her shoulder.  _If only._


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, guys! I just want to thank everyone who commented or read this fic; as always you guys are totally awesome. I hope you've enjoyed this little Bamon-y ficcage as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I think if I do anymore Bamon in the future I'll wait to post until it's done to cut down the waiting time and make it easier for me writing wise. Anyway thanks again and here's hoping 2015 is a total Bamon year!

Chapter Seven 

_When it came to sex Bonnie wasn't the most experienced person in the world. Naturally. While Caroline and Elena had been with several different men she'd taken a slower approach to finding the right guy. Though to be honest she blamed that on most guys either overlooking her, friend zoning her or being evil assholes. If she had to describe her romantic life she'd say she was a casual kisser since she'd done more of that than anything else. Until Jeremy of course. Jeremy had been her first and while their relationship had its ups and downs, she could honestly say it wasn't something she regretted. No matter how she felt about Jeremy now at the time she'd loved him and wanted to be with him; wanted to feel that physical kind of happiness that others often talked about._

_And she had._

_Sex with Damon Salvatore however was_  very  _different. She didn't want to say that Jeremy was bad but he was young and although he'd been with Vicki—and perhaps Anna—a number of times he couldn't beat a hundred plus year old vampire. Besides Damon was way more sexual in general and that translated very well in the bedroom. Or whatever surface he deemed worthy of experimenting on. He gave her his whole attention and loved pushing her limits; seeing how many times he could get her to come in one go. The more delirious with pleasure she ended up the happier he was. Vampire stamina was a magical yet devious thing._

 _Bonnie never considered herself someone that needed sex until she started having it with Damon. Then it was pretty much a free for all anywhere they could manage to find a moment. And since it was just the two of them they_  might  _have overdone it the first couple of days. But it was fun and wonderful and oddly perfect—like something they should have been doing for years. It really made her wonder why none of their fights or arguments had ended in hate sex. Probably because there was always another person in the way but now wasn't the time to think about anyone else. Now it was just about them._

_The couch was just big enough to fit them both and even though it was still sort of cramped, Bonnie had to admit she liked it. It was hot and intimate having Damon so close to her, inside of her and on top of her. His five o'clock shadow tickled where it brushed against her neck, his lips kissing a light path down to her collar bone and shoulder. He was heavier than he looked and warmer; a toned wall of muscle and feverish skin pressing her down into the brown cushions. One hand rested up by her head gripping the arm of the chair while the other smoothed up and down along her thigh, hiking it higher when he saw fit. He was sliding in and out of her slowly—like he had all the time in the world—and although Bonnie had already came once she could feel another orgasm creeping up her bare legs._

_Sometimes Damon would whisper the filthiest stuff into her ear. The kinda stuff that had you blushing fourteen shades of red but in the moment totally got you off. Today was one of the rare occasions when it was less about getting there and more about just being together. Feeling each other and perhaps even making up for lost time. About just…going with the ebb and flow of it all._

_Never in a million years had Bonnie thought_  this  _was how things would be for her when she'd stood there staring into the blinding light of the Other Side about to rip itself a part. At the very least she'd figured she might just cease to exist and thereby have no pain. Instead she'd been rewarded with somewhat of a paradise._

 _"Damon," she gasped, arching against him and raking her nails down his sweaty back_.

 _"Want something Bon Bon?" He asked like the bastard he was. "Want_ —fuck,  _do that again…"_

 _Laughing she tightened around him again, hooking her legs around his thighs. He groaned and dropped his forehead to her shoulder, his thrusts growing faster and harder. She hissed in pleasure and molded her hands to his ass for something to hold onto, unable to control the sounds escaping her parted lips_.

_Within minutes she was coming and Damon was following suit a few seconds after, sucking bright red marks into her flushed skin. And like every time before it was utterly flawless and left her feeling tired but blissful._

_It went on like that for weeks without incident. But nothing lasted forever._

_The smell of tacos making her nausea was how it started. Well the meat inside of the tacos. She walked into the kitchen as Damon was_   _cooking and turned so green that she had to step outside for a little while until things aired out. Needless to say she did not have that for dinner. The next morning she woke up dizzy as hell and stumbled into the bathroom where she lost the bit of food she'd actually managed to keep down. Since neither of them had gotten sick since arriving they were both concerned. Of course there were no doctors however because one couldn't get hurt when they were dead._

_On the third day Damon suggested they ask anyone else what could be wrong._

_"The little old witches like you." He mused. "If you'd got the pox maybe they can help you."_

_Bonnie glared at him. "I don't have_  the pox.  _Besides it's only in the morning anyway. I feel okay right now. Just kinda tired."_

_Damon arched a brow. "You don't…nah. There is no way."_

_She yawned. "What?"_

_Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he shrugged. "I want to ask you something and I want you to be completely honest."_

_"Um, okay." She tilted her head. "Shoot."_

_"Are you boobs sore?"_

_"What?"_

_"Humor me."_

Now that he mentions it… " _Maybe a little. I so don't wanna talk about that with you. It'll totally kill the mystery of our relationship."_

_Damon's brows narrowed. "Stand up then. Continue to humor me."_

_With a long suffering sigh, she crawled off the bed and smoothed down her white sweater. "Now what? Do you want me to walk in a straight line and touch my nose while saying the alphabet backwards?"_

_He rolled his eyes and walked over, dropping to his knees in front of her. "Just shut up for a second."_

_Bonnie stared down at him in confusion but went with the urge to run her fingers through his soft black hair. He grinned and pressed his ear to her stomach, his face pinched in concentration. She idly wondered if he was trying to hear whatever was wrong with her but that didn't make any sense. You couldn't hear food poisoning or the beginnings of the flu. Just because neither of them had ever came down with anything didn't mean they couldn't._

_"Holy shit." Damon breathed. "Ho-ly. Shit."_

_That alarmed her. "What? What's wrong?"_

_His face was white as a sheet when he looked up. "I—a heartbeat. I hear a fucking heartbeat."_

_She blinked. "Um that's not possible. I haven't had a heartbeat since we got here. I'm dead. I have the sensation of it beating but I figure that is an old alive habit."_

_Standing quickly, he shook his head. "No. Not_  yours…"

_What he was saying settled heavily into her brain like thick molasses, forcing her to sit down or fall down. She thought about accusing him of playing a horrible joke but it was obvious he was one hundred percent serious. He looked worried; an expression she'd gotten used to seeing whenever something arrived to put Elena in danger for the ninth time. Except now it was completely trained on her._

_Swallowing hard, she wet her lips. "Damon are—are you saying I—I'm pregnant? Because I don't see how that is something that could ever happen. One we are both dead and two; you're a vampire so even if we weren't dead it's practically impossible. Vampires are sterile."_

_He made a face. "Don't say it like that. It sounds like you're saying I can't get it up and we both know that's a lie. Apparently it's also a_  gross  _understatement. If you're not pregnant then your tape worm has a loud heartbeat. Now that I am focusing on it I can hear it from here. It's kinda…hypnotic."_

Holy crap is this really happening? How could it be happening? I mean we didn't use protection but what was the point? He's a vampire and we're both dead.  _"Do you think this is for real?"_

_Damon flopped down beside her. "Well we are in some kinda weird other dimension where whatever is broken magically fixes itself. And it's not like I have to feed even though there are blood bags in the fridge. I suppose anything is possible. Even this."_

_Biting the inside of her cheek, she touched her stomach. "I don't know how to react right now. I always assumed I'd have children one day but this is—it's insane. We need to figure out what's going on."_

_He didn't appear to disagree. "How do we do that? Does this place even_  have a  _hospital?"_

Good question. " _I don't know. We could check I suppose. Or maybe hit up the library and do a little research. Maybe they have books centered on this place."_

_The vampire nodded and put on his shoes before grabbing his jacket. "At this point I am willing to try anything. Let's go."_

_Grabbing her coat and sticking her feet into her slippers, Bonnie followed him downstairs and out the front door. Her mind was buzzing like a beehive, her skin tingling and not in the pleasant way. She wasn't sure how to react and her nerves were wound tight. It wasn't even that she was upset—not really—it was more like supreme shock. Like when she'd discovered she was a witch or that vampire existed. Eventually she got used to it even if the road had been rocky as hell ever since._

_Could she get used to this too?_

_Damon's long legs carried him faster than her so she had to power walk to keep up with him. "Say it's true," she began. "What then?"_

_His steps slowed and he grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers together. "I don't_ i think  _Pleasantville does adoption so…I guess we'd be raising a baby. Heh, I just pictured it and nearly wet myself._ "

_Bonnie chuckled. "Yeah. It's…a terrifying thought. We don't know anything about babies or raising one." Pause. "I'd imagine it's way different than when I used to play house with Elena and Caroline."_

_"Probably." He snorted. "But if we have to then…we have to. Not like we could put it in a basket and send it down the river_."

That's surprising. " _Wait so you're saying if it turns out I am somehow miraculously pregnant, you'd stick around to raise it with me?"_

_Absently he kissed her knuckles. "Yeah. Where else would I go? Granted kids have never been on my personal agenda—at least not since being turned—but I'm sure we'd make the most of it. How rowdy could the little brat be in a Heaven dimension?"_

_Even after nearly three years Damon could still manage to amaze her. They had come so far from the hate fueled relationship they used to have._

_After walking for a few blocks, passing quaint little houses and stores with shiny windows, the library loomed into view. It was a high brick building with neatly cut bushes between stone benches and a large angel fountain stretching up towards the sky. Bonnie knew for a fact the inside was pristine yet homey because unlike Damon, she'd visited it several times since they'd arrived in this new place. She liked to read and during the early months of Damon's sulking and drinking it helped pass the time._

_It didn't have a name which was weird but everyone just seemed to know where it was. She'd found several of her favorite books inside and when it came to checking them out, there was no real time limit. Whether or not there would be anything of use to them she wasn't sure but she knew it didn't hurt to look._

_"So what do we say to the librarian?" Damon inquired with a grin. "Um excuse me where are the_  I think I got my dead girlfriend pregnant  _books_?"

_"Alright you go that route while I check the index." She laughed. "And we'll see who has the most luck."_

_Before they could make their way inside, Nathaniel popped up from around a corner. "Hello Bonnie."_

_Bonnie sighed and folded her arms over her chest. She really wasn't in the mood for his type of crazy. "What do you want?"_

_He lifted both hands. "I'm here to help."_

_Damon of course didn't believe him. "I find that hard to believe. I don't think you have a helpful bone in your body. How did you know we would be here anyway?"_

_Nathaniel glared at him. "Sometimes I watch you."_

_Bonnie frowned. "Ew. Seriously what is wrong with you? I have_  no clue  _how to make you alive again."_

_And then Nathaniel smiled in the creepiest way possible. "It's okay. You don't actually have to do anything. Well you'll have to help me with the ritual but I know how to get us home."_

_Damon huffed. "How?"_

_Nathaniel pointed at her. "I don't know why I didn't see it before but it kinda makes perfect sense. We can use your baby to open a portal to the land of the living. It's our way back."_

_Stepping in front of her, Damon slapped his hand to Nathaniel's chest. "You're gonna wanna explain yourself or I'm going to chuck you through a window. Did you overhear us talking?"_

_"Yes. And to be honest it's pretty noticeable, to a Traveler anyway."_

_"Traveler? You said you were some kinda witch from some coven that helped with Silas."_

_"I lied. I had to otherwise you wouldn't trust me."_

_"We don't trust you_  now.  _In fact I'm pretty sure we trust you even less if that is at all possible. You're the main reason Bonnie and I are stuck here in the first place. You honestly think we'd help you do anything?"_

_Nathaniel rubbed at his face. "Look the bad shit was Markos. Most of us just wanted a place to settle down. A permanent place." A beat. "Now that he and the others are dead I just want a normal life. This is our shot! Bonnie there might not be an Other Side anymore but I'm sure you still have some anchor in you. Your baby is alive—if we harness its energy we can replicate what Markos did to pass through and tie you back to the world of the living. I know the spell."_

_"Would the baby survive?" She asked softly and he shook his head. "Then no. I don't want any part of whatever you're talking about."_

_Nathaniel glanced around. "So you wanna stay here? In this…crazy fucked up place where nothing breaks and people act like its paradise. What about all of your friends? What about your brother?" He pulled at his hair. "I can't stay here any longer. I will lose my damn mind if I have to stay here one more day!"_

_Suddenly Nathaniel lashed out and shoved Damon as hard as he could, sending him sprawling back into a bench. And then he was tackling Bonnie to the ground, grubby hands wrapping around her neck and squeezing. She gasped and gouged her thumbs into his eye sockets with as much pressure as she could muster, cringing when they slipped deep with a low squishing sound. Nathaniel screamed and flailed backwards with blood running down his face. His eyes were puffy black holes that were already healing; the nerves threading themselves back together as he blinked rapidly._

_Damon grabbed a handful of Nathaniel's hair and pulled him over to an above ground sprinkle, tying him up with the cord so tight that it dug into his skin. "You're done."_

_"Am I?" Nathaniel wheezed. "You can't kill me. I'll never give up! I'll never give up until I'm out of this hell hole!"_

_The thought of always having him over their shoulder chilled Bonnie to the bone. If their baby managed to survive and be born Nathaniel would stalk it every day and every night. How was that finding any sort of peace? How was she supposed to stay strong when the danger kept on coming?_

_Damon looked eerily calm however but there was murder in his eyes. "Bonnie go home."_

_She balked. "What? Why?"_

_He gestured a nothing. "Because I am going to take care of this asshole. Just trust me_."

_Against her better judgment, Bonnie forced herself to walk away. Perhaps it was because she knew Damon could take care of himself and that there was not any real danger. At least she prayed there wasn't._

_Of course after getting home all she did was pace for an hour and a half until Damon_  finally  _showed up, dirty and sweaty but otherwise fine. She hugged him anyway, pressing her face into his chest. "Are you okay? What happened?"_

_"I put that asshole somewhere where he won't bother us again. Used chains and everything." Damon explained, cupping her cheeks. "By the time he gets free—if he gets free—he won't even remember why he was tied up in the first place. And if he does I'll take care of him again."_

_"You locked him up?" Her thoughts drifted back to Silas and how well that had worked for him until everyone started wanting the cure. "What if he wants to be free and then just_  is _?"_

_"I don't think that is how it works. Hope not anyway." Damon shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it onto a chair. "He's obviously some kind of danger to us. To…" He gestured to her body. "I still don't know how I feel about all this but it's our decision what to do. Not his."_

_Nibbling on her bottom lip, Bonnie perched on the edge of the sofa and watched him. "I can't use this baby to get home. It's one thing to not have it altogether but to use it like a tool? I—I don't think I could do that."_

_He put his hands on her shoulders. "Me either. Besides this kid is a Salvatore. Not a lot of us out there anymore. And we are intelligent adults. I'm sure between the two of us we can raise a baby. We do have a magic dimension to help."_

_It sounded insane when put that way but Bonnie could tell Damon was trying not to overly freak out for her sake. In truth neither of them had any real knowledge of being parents unless you counted all the things they didn't want to get wrong. For instance she didn't want to be like her mother. She didn't want to put someone else's life and family first, neglecting her own, acting as if even friends were more important. And she didn't want to spend too much time working or traveling for work. She wanted to be there and hands on, and make sure her child always knew he or she was the most important person in her life._

_That sort of thing had never seemed possible in Mystic Falls, especially not after the vampires arrived. But a small part of her had hoped—secretly—that maybe one day she'd find a nice guy and settle down. For one brief fleeting moment she'd thought perhaps it was Jeremy but no. Not Jeremy. Never Jeremy._

_Still perhaps this child was a gift. What else could it be considering their situation?_

_"We are going to need so much stuff. An—and what are we going to do if—when—I go into labor? Neither of us knows how to deliver a baby." The very thought of trying without a doctor made her shudder._

_"We'll figure it out. We have time." Damon put his hands on his hips, jeans slipping even lower. "We have all the time in the world."_

* * *

All things considered, Bonnie's labor was pretty easy. It hurt like hell and she wished she hadn't been too far gone for drugs but it could have been worse. It could have gone on for longer than it should, forcing her to have a c-section. Not that ten hours wasn't a long time because it felt like a lifetime during but she'd heard about some women being in labor for  _days_ . In the end however she'd delivered a beautiful baby boy with big blue eyes, slick black hair and warm caramel colored skin. And with a set of lungs on him that impressed the hospital staff.

He was put through the usual tasks that all newborns faced—weighing and such—before eventually being bundled up into a soft white blanket and handed off to his very tired mother. Bonnie stared down at her son and felt love like never before swell up inside of her. He was perfect. He was beautiful and perfect and a real mix of her and Damon. Of course he would have Damon's eyes; how else would he charm all of the girls and probably the boys too?

Damon was looming at her side and staring down at the baby with the same expression of awe. "Holy shit but we made one good looking kid."

She chuckled as a tiny fist latched onto her finger. "He has my nose. I almost can't believe we actually managed to pull it off. We somehow had a baby."

Damon kissed her temple and smoothed damp hair off her forehead. "Well we are awesome people." He sat down beside her. "You feeling okay? I could give you some of my blood to heal you."

 _Actually_ … "I'm okay. I think the baby healed me. Not bad for a parting gift."

They'd discovered their little bundle of joy had vampire healing powers by accident when Bonnie had cut her hand chopping vegetables. She'd winced and reached for a dish towel when suddenly the cut had sealed itself back together. It made sense for there to be some in-utero stuff going on. Only time would tell if transferred to Sebastiano out of the womb.

Kissing her baby's forehead, Bonnie gently placed him in Damon's arms. "There. How does that feel?"

He exhaled deeply. "Amazing." The baby yawned widely and Damon was spellbound. "Oh look at that. Someone is exhausted after doing nothing. I know the feeling."

Bonnie snorted and relaxed back to the pillows just as a blonde head poked into the room. "Can we come in? Pleeease say yes!" Caroline begged. "I brought balloons and this adorable teddy bear!"

Damon arched a brow. "How did you get past the nurses and stuff?"

Squealing lowly, Caroline barged into the room with Elena and Stefan in tow. "I compelled them, duh." Her eyes landed on the baby and she immediately melted, thrusting the teddy bear and balloons into the nearest chair. "Oh my god! He's so cute! Look at his fat little cheeks! Can I hold him?"

"No." Damon frowned.

"Damon." Bonnie chuckled. "Don't be mean."

"I meant  _no_ , not before his Uncle." Damon smiled cheekily and stood. "Come meet your nephew, brother."

Stefan smiled happily and after a little fumbling, took Sebastiano into his arms. "With pleasure. Hey little guy."

"Guys he's beautiful." Elena whispered with a touch of longing. "What's his name?"

"Sebastiano Bennett Salvatore." Bonnie replied proudly.

Caroline was making grabby hands. "Ooh I like it. For a minute I thought you might go with Damon Jr. Just, ew."

Damon pointed at her. "Just for that you're now third on the baby holding list."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I mean he needs his own little identity. Oh whatever, not even you can bring me down today."

As Bonnie watched everyone coo over her baby and playfully bicker, she smiled to herself, feeling the most intense sense of bliss wash over her. Nothing could bring her down today either.

* * *

 

_Four Years Later_

An excited shriek echoed through the yard and Damon looked up just in time to see his son sprint by with Alaric hot on his heels, laughing and pretending to just miss catching him. Bash as he was affectionately called was four years old now going on forty. He was adorable, smart and normal. Well he did seem to have heightened senses that other young children didn't have, but as far as they could tell there was nothing else  _vampiric_  about him. In fact Damon was pretty sure he was going to be a little warlock when he got older. He was fascinated by magic and never missed a chance to watch Bonnie do something or other. However that suited Damon just fine. They should be more Bennett witches in the world.

From his place stretched out under a tree, Damon snorted as Bash ran straight to Stefan and all but leapt into his arms. He loved all of his extended family but he loved Stefan  _the_   _most_  and not just because he was his only blood Uncle but because, well, it was Stefan. Patient Stefan who answered all of his little questions and played with him whenever he asked. Who used vampire speed to run him around the house and make him feel like he was flying or who let him sit on his lap and drive his precious vintage car. It was easy to tell that Stefan relished being an Uncle and was basically spoiling this kid within an inch of his life. Not that Damon would ever complain. He was happy there were people around to do it.

Stefan still lived in the manor and he'd finally got his head out of his ass where Caroline was concerned. It had taken a little while but they were now together and doing pretty well. In the beginning they'd tip toed around each other so as not to ruin their friendship, but there was something to be said to dating your best friend. They already knew your best and worst habits so there was nothing to jump out and scare them off. Whether they would make it forever or not he didn't know but that was okay too. Sometimes you just had to take a chance.

As for the rest of Bash's little extended family, out of his two Aunts he'd probably never be able to choose which he loved best if asked. Caroline and Elena doted on him constantly and always wanted to take him this place or that place. He had freaking sleepovers with them and sometimes got so much candy sneaked to him it would fall out of his little pockets. Though it was pretty amusing to watch him side eye Elena's boyfriend Liam—the human. Liam was okay besides being a cocky little shit on his way to a big medical degree. He made Elena smile however and that was all they cared about. And he hadn't freaked out when she'd revealed her fangs to him so that was a plus.

Alaric on the other hand was dating a retired witch named Jo, and unfortunately he often thought with his penis where she was concerned more than anything else. He was the one who took Bash to ball games and told him endless stories about history that Bash  _actually_  enjoyed. Obviously the learning gene came from Bonnie's side of the family.

Enzo was the consummate bachelor who taught Bash to play poker while Tyler and the quarterback taught him to play football. And he loved all of it and all of them.

Even with so much family around him though Bash was smart enough to pick up on the things he didn't have, like grandparents. Damon and Bonnie had both explained to him that their parents were dead—except in Abby's case, they said she lived very far away—so he'd asked if Liz could be his grandmother. And really when a cute little face like that asks if you'll be his grandma there is no way you can say no. Liz's only request was that she call him Nana, not grandma.

As for Jeremy? Well baby Gilbert had honestly tried to get on board but for whatever reason he just hadn't been able to. He was civil now and he didn't dare treat Bash badly but he'd had to leave Mystic Falls. He was currently painting sad clowns in Paris or something.

So yeah. Bash was surrounded by love and really it was all Damon could have asked for. People willing to die for his son, not because they felt they had to but because they wanted to. There hadn't been any  _incidents_  with big evil but shit still happened. Vampires and werewolves still managed to find their way to Mystic Falls and a few noticed Bash because he was  _different_. Because he was a kid and sometimes he forgot certain things were a secret. For that reason Bonnie had him protected up the butt with magic and he wore a tiny vervain bracelet that he never took off. He couldn't be compelled by regular vampires but with Originals out there they decided not to take any chances.

He was a great kid. He knew what the people in his life were and for him it was normal. He knew it wasn't something he could tell other people but they figured even if he did no one would believe him. He was four, he probably just had an over active imagination.

"Uncle Stefan!" Bash giggled, tiny arms wrapped tight around Stefan's neck. "You'll protect me from Uncle Ric, right?"

Stefan grinned. "Of course I will."

Alaric smirked. "Out of the three of us I'm pretty sure I'm the strongest. That's why I'm the tickle monster."

Bash's eyes stretched wide. "Nooo! No tickles! I'll tell Aunt Caroline on you and she—she'd give you a time out."

Alaric pouted. "Aw c'mon. I've already had  _three_  time outs this week! Tell you what; I won't tickle you if you share that Hersey bar Elena gave you."

Seemingly thinking about it, Bash nodded. "Okay! Mama put it in the re-fri-jor-ra-tor so it wouldn't melt. But you can't eat it all!" Wiggling, he slid out of Stefan's arms and made a beeline to where Damon sat. "Juice, pleeeease."

Chuckling, Damon handed him his little juice. "Knock yourself out." Pause. "You tired from all that running around?"

His son nodded a little. "Uncle Ric is  _fast_. I wanna be fast when I grow up. Will I be?"

Damon shrugged. "I don't know but probably. You're pretty fast now."

Bash grinned and put his juice box down before flopping against his father's side. "Daddy? Megan said she's gonna have a little brother soon. Can you and mama go get me one too? Well…a sister would be okay but I'd rather have a brother."

Ruffling his black faux mohawk, Damon cleared his throat. "That might be tough for us, kiddo. You remember how your mom and I are special? Well that makes you special too. And heh, we're not sure we could have another one of you. Though I'm sure she'd be willing to try."

"Try!" Bash exclaimed. "I bet if you try  _real_   _hard_  you'll get one."

Damon snickered to himself; Bonnie would slap him in the back of the head if she heard their conversation. "Okay we'll try."  _Hell who knows, maybe it'll work. Stranger things have happened_.

Speaking of… Bonnie made her out of the Salvatore manor with a rectangular container in her hands. Her hair was long again and slightly curly but she hadn't appeared to age at all. Which she always joked was a good thing considering most of the people in her life were ageless. She was barefoot in tiny shorts a flowy top, and Damon loved her just as much now as when he'd first realized it. For everyone else they'd only been together for four years but for them it was at least seven. Seven years of putting up with each other. Of arguments and make ups and always being there for each other. It was odd sometimes because he'd promised his future to Elena yet couldn't imagine a future with anyone but Bonnie. They complimented each other on a level he never thought possible. He could be himself with her and not feel judged for it. No matter what she had hope for the man he was, not who she  _wanted_  him to be. And because of that—because of how much he loved her—he was willing to do anything to keep her happy and safe. It was nice to put that focus on someone and feel it right back.

They should really get around to getting married one day too.

"Mama!" Bash pawed at her as she sat down, crawling into her lap and snuggling close. "Apple slices?"

"Yup." She opened the plastic container and offered him some. "Help yourself." And he did.

"Hey buddy why don't you go see if Stefan or Ric want one." Damon suggested. "I need to talk to your mom for a bit."

"Mmkay." Standing, he grabbed up the apple slices, kissed Bonnie on the lips with a loud  _muah_  and ran off to where Stefan and Alaric stood.

Bonnie yawned and edged closer to him until she was leaning against his side. "What's up?"

Damon kissed her forehead. "Bash wants us to go to the store and get him a little brother."

She laughed. "Oh really? Did you tell him they were really expensive?"

"I would but he knows we're well off so…"

"Yeah well that's Stefan's fault for buying him whatever he wants. And  _yours_  for compelling him toys."

"Bonnie, he can't go without Legos. He just can't."

"Hah okay. So what did you tell him?"

He laced their fingers together. "I told him we'd try. And before you get mad we both know trying is the best part. And…well there is magic and spells. Maybe we could pull it off again. Or hell, adopt. We could totally adopt."

She looked up at him. "I'd be okay with adopting. A little girl this time. Though we should wait until Bash is in kindergarten and stuff."

Damon slipped an arm behind her so that his fingers could dance under her shirt and along her spine. "Yes ma'am. Should we get married? I mean if not you can at least change your last name to Salvatore."

Squirming, she kissed his jaw. "Bennett-Salvatore. And we'll see. We don't want to spring change on Bash too quickly. Also any wedding talk will get Caroline in one of her moods. Are you ready for that after her fourth birthday extravaganza for her only nephew?"

Smiling, he rested his head against hers and watched Bash play with his Uncles. "I could do without all the glitter this time. I'm still finding it in interesting places."

Laughing, Bonnie shook her head. "We could make her promise on something small and if that doesn't work, elope."

Now that sounded like a good idea. "Get Stefan to watch Bash and head to Vegas. Honeymoon there for a few days."

"Sounds like fun." Sighing in contentment, she closed her eyes. "I'm in if you are."

Damon rolled his eyes playfully. He had a son with the woman he loved and was building a pretty sweet life for himself. He couldn't be more in if he tried…and he was more than okay with that.

The End


End file.
